A method of fabricating a thin film magnetic disk including depositing a seed layer of a refractory metal such as tantalum, Cr, Nb, W, V, or Mo and a reactive element such as N or O; depositing a nonmagnetic underlayer onto the seed layer; and depositing a magnetic layer is disclosed. Also disclosed is a thin film magnetic disk having a substrate; a seed layer comprising tantalum and at least about 1 atomic-% of nitrogen or oxygen; an underlayer comprising Cr or an alloy of chromium deposited onto the seed layer, the underlayer preferably having a preferred orientation of [200]; and a magnetic layer deposited onto the underlayer, the magnetic layer preferably having a preferred orientation of [11{overscore (2)}0]. Also disclosed is a disk drive using the thin film magnetic disk of the invention.