This paper reviews the research done on soft-magnetic fluxguide materi
als for use in sandwich heads and in thin-him recording heads for digi
tal magnetic recording. After dealing with the basic principles of mag
netic recording, the requirements on modern soft-magnetic materials ar
e discussed. The roles of magnetic anistropy and magnetostriction in r
elation to permeability are discussed. Next, we review the recent adva
nces in soft-magnetic materials processing, in particular for amorphou
s cobalt (Co-Nb-Zr) and nanocrystalline iron alloys, such as Fe-M-X, w
ith M being group IVa-Va metals such as Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta, etc., and X be
ing N and O.