Perpendicular magnetic recording medium

A perpendicular magnetic recording medium comprising:

• a soft magnetic underlayer having an amorphous structure or a nano-crystalline structure;
• a first seed layer comprised of a magnetic material having an fcc crystal structure including a CoFe alloy formed on a substrate side;
• a nonmagnetic layer formed between the soft magnetic underlayer and the first seed layer;
• a second seed layer formed on the first seed layer, the second seed layer comprised of a nonmagnetic material having an fcc crystal structure including a NiW alloy;
• an intermediate layer comprised of Ru or an alloy thereof;
• a magnetic recording layer;
• and
• a protective layer,
• wherein the layers are stacked on a substrate in the foregoing order and the soft magnetic underlayer is closer to the substrate than the protective layers.

A method for forming a perpendicular magnetic recording medium, comprising:

• forming a soft magnetic underlayer having an amorphous structure or a nano-crystalline structure;
• forming a first seed layer comprised of a magnetic material having an fcc crystal structure including a CoFe alloy on a substrate side;
• forming a nonmagnetic layer between the soft magnetic underlayer and the first seed layer;
• forming a second seed layer on the first seed layer, the second seed layer comprised of a nonmagnetic material having an fcc crystal structure including a NiW alloy;
• forming an intermediate layer comprised of Ru or an alloy thereof;
• forming a magnetic recording layer;
• and
• forming a protective layer,
• wherein the layers are formed sequentially on a substrate in the foregoing order.