Magneto-optical recording medium and method of reproducing the same

A magneto-optical recording medium comprising:

• a recording layer made of TbFeCo which has a direction of easy magnetization extending in a direction perpendicular to the layer and shows a transition metal-rich magnetization;
• an intermediate layer made of GdFeCo, GdFeCoSi or GdFe which has a direction of easy magnetization extending in an in-plane direction at room temperature and shows a rare earth element-rich magnetization;
• a reproduction layer made of GdFeCo or GdDyFeCo which has a direction of easy magnetization extending in a direction perpendicular to the layer and shows a transition metal-rich magnetization;
• the layers being stacked in this order, wherein
• a mask layer made of GdFeCo which is formed on the reproduction layer, has a direction of easy magnetization extending in an in-plane direction at room temperature, shows a rare earth element-rich magnetization, and exhibits a Curie temperature higher than that of said layers.

A reproduction apparatus for a magneto-optical recording medium, the magneto-optical recording medium being a magnetic super resolution type magneto-optical recording disk of multilayer structure including at least a recording layer, an intermediate layer, a reproduction layer and a mask layer stacked in this order and having a plurality of recording tracks arranged at a predetermined track pitch in a radius direction, the reproduction apparatus being used for transferring data which is magnetically recorded in the recording layer of each track to the reproduction layer, thereby reproducing the data, wherein the reproduction apparatus comprises;

• a mounting means which is connected with a driving mechanism and rotatably mounts the magneto-optical disk;
• a magnetic field generating device for applying a reproduction magnetic field in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the mounted disk;
• an optical system for irradiating a reproduction light beam having a spot diameter larger than the track pitch onto the mask layer side of the disk;
• and
• a signal processing means for detecting reflection of the reproduction light beam from the disk and modulating it to an electrical signal,
• the reproduction apparatus reproduces data by scanning a track to be read with a light beam having a spot diameter larger than the track pitch under a state where a reproduction magnetic field is applied in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the disk such that the data in the track to be read is exchanged-coupled to a first reproduction aperture defined between two mask regions generated on the reproduction layer in front and behind along the track direction by temperature distribution through the light beam irradiation, and passing the data through a second reproduction aperture generated in the mask layer for controlling expansion of the first reproduction aperture in a disk radius direction.