Magnetic recording media fabrication method

A magnetic recording medium fabrication method for sequentially forming first and second magnetic layers, whose main constituents are cobalt and oxygen, on a substrate being conveyed in a downstream direction along a contact surface of a cylindrical drum, said method comprising:

• conducting a first vapor deposition to form a first magnetic layer by directing atoms onto a first surface portion of a substrate, the first surface portion having an upstream edge and a downstream edge;
• conducting a second vapor deposition to form a second magnetic layer by directing atoms onto a second surface portion of the substrate, the surface portion having an upstream edge and a downstream edge;
• wherein an angle formed by a line normal to the surface of the substrate and an incident direction of evaporated atoms is defined as an incident angle, and wherein the incident angle at the upstream edge is greater than the incident angle at the downstream edge of each of the first and second surface portions of the substrate;
• wherein the incident angle for said first magnetic layer at the at the downstream edge of the first surface portion is greater than the incident angle for said second magnetic at the downstream edge of the second surface portion;
• and
• wherein a ratio of an amount of introduced oxygen to a rate of film deposition during formation of said first magnetic layer is greater than a ratio of an amount of introduced oxygen and a rate of film deposition during formation of said second magnetic layer.