Method for making ceramic substrates for magnetic-recording media

A method for manufacturing a recording medium for magnetic-recording applications comprising the steps of:

• providing a substrate having a surface and being composed of a ceramic material;
• coating the surface of the substrate with a first coating of an electrically conductive material having a hardness at least as great as the hardness of the ceramic material of the substrate, wherein the first coating is characterized by an energetic-atom-deposited dense fibrous Zone T structure;
• and
• coating over the first coating with a layer of magnetic-recording material.

A method for manufacturing a magnetic-recording medium comprising:

• providing a disk-shaped substrate composed of a ceramic material;
• depositing a first coating on the substrate, wherein the first coating is a nitride, carbide, or boride of a metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, zirconium, hafnium, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, chromium, molybdenum, and tungsten, wherein the first coating is characterized by an energetic-atom-deposited dense fibrous Zone T structure, and wherein the thickness of the first coating is between 0.5 and 5.0 micrometers;
• and
• depositing a layer of magnetic-recording material overlying the first coating.

A method of manufacturing a magnetic-recording medium comprising:

• providing a substrate composed of a ceramic material;
• depositing a first coating on the substrate, wherein the first coating is an electrically conductive material having a hardness at least as great as the hardness of the ceramic material, wherein the first coating is characterized by an energetic-atom-deposited dense fibrous Zone T structure, and wherein the thickness of the first coating is between 0.5 and 5.0 micrometers, and wherein the first coating is a nitride, carbide, or boride of a metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, zirconium, hafnium, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, chromium, molybdenum, and tungsten;
• and
• depositing a magnetic layer overlying the first coating.