Magneto-optical recording medium having multiple magnetic layers

A magneto-optical recording medium having multiple magnetic layers comprising:

• a first magnetic layer;
• a second magnetic layer;
• a third magnetic layer;
• and
• a fourth magnetic layer,
• the first to fourth magnetic layers being sequentially formed from a side irradiated with a laser beam, during recording, an information signal being recorded in a form of a magnetic domain in the fourth magnetic layer having an easy magnetization axis in a vertical direction by an external magnetic field while the laser beam irradiation is executed, then the magnetic domain being exchanged through the second and third magnetic layers with the first magnetic layer and, during reproducing, magnetization of the third magnetic layer being lost by a temperature raised by the laser beam irradiation, and magnetic domain wall displacement being generated to enlarge the magnetic domain formed by the exchange coupling in the first magnetic layer,
• wherein the first magnetic layer is formed by using a material with a base of one of a Gd—Fe film and a Gd—Fe—Co film in order to set a normalized magnetic field obtained by normalizing a magnetic domain wall driving field based on saturation magnetization lower than 1, each of the second and third magnetic layers is formed by using a material with a base of one of a Tb—Fe film and a Dy—Fe film, and adding at least one of Co, Al and Cr, the fourth magnetic layer is formed by using a material with a base of one of a Tb—Fe—Co film and a Dy—Fe—Co film, an element concentration ratio (at. % ratio) of one of Tb and Dy to Fe—Co is set in a range of one of 24.5≦TB≦26.5 and 26.5≦Dy≦29.5, and addition amounts of Co and a nonmagnetic element to each magnetic layer are adjusted to set Curie temperatures Tc21, Tc22, Tc23 and Tc24 of the first, second, third and fourth magnetic layers to Tc24>Tc21>Tc22>Tc23, whereby a stray field from the fourth magnetic layer to the first magnetic layer is reduced in a temperature range where a reproduction is carried, out by the magnetic domain wall displacement.

A magneto-optical recording medium having multiple magnetic layers comprising:

• a first magnetic layer;
• a second magnetic layer;
• and
• a third magnetic layer,
• the first to third magnetic layers being sequentially formed from a side irradiated with a laser beam, during recording, an information signal being recorded in a form of a magnetic domain in the third magnetic layer having an easy magnetization axis in a vertical direction by an external magnetic field while the laser beam irradiation is executed, then the magnetic domain being exchanged through the second magnetic layer with the first magnetic layer and, during reproducing, magnetization of the second magnetic layer being lost by a temperature raised by the laser beam irradiation, and magnetic domain wall displacement being generated to enlarge the magnetic domain formed by the exchange coupling in the first magnetic layer,
• wherein the first magnetic layer is formed by using a material with a base of one of a Gd—Fe film and a Gd—Fe—Co film in order to set a normalized magnetic field obtained by normalizing a magnetic domain wall driving field based on saturation magnetization lower than 1, the second magnetic layer is formed by using a material with a base of one of a Tb—Fe film and a Dy—Fe film, and adding at least one of Co, Al and Cr, the third magnetic layer is made of two films of a Tb—Fe—Co film and a Gd—Fe—Co film, and anti-parallel coupling is maintained which becomes stable when directions of magnetizations of the two films are opposite to each other in a temperature area in which reproducing is executed by magnetic domain wall displacement in the first magnetic layer.

A magneto-optical recording medium having multiple magnetic layers comprising:

• a first magnetic layer;
• a second magnetic layer;
• a third magnetic layer;
• and
• a fourth magnetic layer,
• the first to fourth magnetic layers being sequentially formed from a side irradiated with a laser beam, during recording, an information signal being recorded in a form of a magnetic domain in the fourth magnetic layer having an easy magnetization axis in a vertical direction by an external magnetic field while the laser beam irradiation is executed, then the magnetic domain being exchanged through the second and third magnetic layers with the first magnetic layer and, during reproducing, magnetization of the third magnetic layer being lost by a temperature raised by the laser beam irradiation, and magnetic domain wall displacement being generated to enlarge the magnetic domain formed by the exchange coupling in the first magnetic layer,
• wherein the first magnetic layer is formed by using a material with a base of one of a Gd—Fe film and a Gd—Fe—Co film in order to set a normalized magnetic field obtained by normalizing a magnetic domain wall driving field based on saturation magnetization lower than 1, each of the second and third magnetic layers is formed by using a material with a base of one of a Tb—Fe film and a Dy—Fe film, and adding at least one of Co, Al and Cr, the fourth magnetic layer is made of two films of a Tb—Fe—Co film and a Gd—Fe—Co film, and anti-parallel coupling is maintained which becomes stable when directions of magnetizations of the two films are opposite to each other in a temperature area in which reproducing is executed by magnetic domain wall displacement in the first layer.