Method of forming a protective film, a protective film obtained by the method, and a magnetic recording medium including the protective film

Abstract

A method of forming a protective film for a magnetic recording medium is disclosed. The protective film suppresses cobalt elution out of the magnetic recording layer and has a thickness not larger than 3 nm. The method of the invention of forming a protective film for a magnetic recording medium comprises (1) a step of forming a protective film, on a lamination including a substrate and metallic film layers formed on the substrate, by means of a plasma CVD method using a raw gas of a hydrocarbon gas, wherein a flow rate of the hydrocarbon gas is in a range of 50 sccm to 200 sccm and a emission current is in a range of 0.1 A to 0.3 A, and (2) a step of surface treatment on the protective film that has been formed in the step (1), including sub-steps of (2a) a plasma treatment in an argon gas and (2b) a plasma treatment in a gas containing a nitrogen gas.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.