SPUTTERING TARGET FOR MANUFACTURING MAGNETIC RECORDING MEDIUM, METHOD OF MANUFACTURING MAGNETIC RECORDING MEDIUM BY USING THE SAME, AND MAGNETIC RECORDING MEDIUM

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sputtering target so as to prevent abnormal discharge caused by forming a granular magnetic layer of a magnetic recording medium and to prevent production of foreign matters on the magnetic recording medium accompanied by abnormal discharge, to provide a method of manufacturing a magnetic recording medium by using that target, and to provide a magnetic recording medium obtained by that method. SOLUTION: The sputtering target for the manufacture of a magnetic recording medium is used to form a magnetic layer of a magnetic recording medium having at least a nonmagnetic base layer, magnetic layer and protective layer successively formed on a nonmagnetic substrate. The sputtering target consists of a mixture of metals and oxides, and the particle diameter of the oxides in the sputtering target is <=10μm.