Microwave-assisted recording on a 500-Gbpsi-class perpendicular medium was experimentally demonstrated at room temperature. Magnetization reversal under a radio-frequency magnetic field was measured by an electrically shorted coplanar waveguide, which enabled us to evaluate the change in the medium's ferromagnetic resonance spectrum. A frequency-dependent reduction in the switching field was clearly observed in response to a microwave impulse 50 ns in duration. A significant reduction of up to 30% in the coercive field was achieved by applying a microwave impulse with an amplitude of 25 dBm and a frequency of 15 GHz. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4759169]