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.