An antiferromagnetically coupled (AFC) magnetic recording medium with an AFC master layer comprising at least two magnetic layers with the top magnetic layer including copper is described. The slave layer is separated from the master layer structure by a nonmagnetic spacer layer selected to antiferromagnetically couple the layers. The master layer structure according to the invention includes a bottom and top layer of distinct ferromagnetic materials. Preferably, the top layer of the master layer is a cobalt alloy including from 1 to 5 at. % copper with an example being CoPt.sub.13Cr.sub.20B.sub.8Cu.sub.2. The AFC magnetic layer structure can be used with a variety of substrates including circumferentially textured glass and NiP/AlMg.