High density magneto-optical recording medium and production method thereof

A magneto-optical recording medium having a magnetic film stack structure, comprising:

• a recording layer being composed of a magnetic film having an easy magnetization characteristic along a stacking direction and having saturation magnetization of 50 emu/cc through 150 emu/cc at room temperature and a Curie temperature of 240° C. through 350° C.;
• a reproducing layer being composed of a magnetic film having an easy magnetization characteristic along the stacking direction and having saturation magnetization 8 emu/cc through 100 emu/cc at room temperature and a Curie temperature of 240° C. through 350° C.;
• and
• an intermediate layer being formed from a rare earth transition metal of GdFeCo and a non-magnetic metal selected from a group consisting of Si, Al and Cr between the recording layer and the reproducing layer as a magnetic film having an easy magnetization characteristic along an in-plane direction at room temperature and having saturation magetization of 140 emu/cc through 250 emu/cc at room temperature and a Curie temperature of 160° C. through 220° C.,
• wherein each of the magnetic films is formed on a substrate including a land portion and a groove portion, and
• the land portion has a width of 0.72 μm through 0.76 μm and is formed at a pitch of approximately 0.9 μm.

A method of manufacturing a magneto-optical recording medium having a magnetic film stack structure, comprising the steps of:

• forming a reproducing layer, on a substrate, which has an easy magnetization characteristic along a stacking direction so as to have saturation magnetization of 8 emu/cc through 100 emu/cc at room temperature;
• forming an intermediate layer from a rare earth transition metal of GdFeCo and a non-magnetic metal selected from a group consisting of Si, Al and Cr on the reproducing layer, which has an easy magnetization characteristic along an in-plane direction at room temperature so as to have saturation magnetization of 140 emu/cc through 250 emu/cc at room temperature;
• and
• forming a recording layer, on the intermediate layer, which has an easy magnetization characteristic along a stacking direction so as to have saturation magnetization of 50 emu/cc through 150 emu/cc at room temperature.

A method of manufacturing a magneto-optical recording medium having a magnetic film stack structure, comprising the steps of:

• forming a recording layer, on a substrate, which has an easy magnetization characteristic along a stacking direction so as to have saturation magnetization of 50 emu/cc through 150 emu/cc at room temperature;
• forming an intermediate layer from a rare earth transition metal of GdFeCo and a non-magnetic metal selected from a group consisting of Si, Al and Cr on the recording layer, which has an easy magnetization characteristic along an in-plane direction at room temperature so as to have saturation magnetization of 140 emu/cc through 250 emu/cc at room temperature;
• and
• forming a reproducing layer, on the intermediate layer, which has an easy magnetization characteristic along a stacking direction so as to have saturation magnetization of 8 emu/cc through 100 emu/cc at room temperature.