MAGNETOOPTICAL RECORDING ON GARNET-FILMS

As next generation magneto-optical (MO) recording media, rare earth iron garnet films with the magnetization aligned perpendicular to the film surface are prepared by sputtering and pyrolysis on glass substrates. Compared to the current amorphous metal MO films the garnet films are high in corrosion resistance and strong in MO effect, especially when enhanced by Bi3+ or Ce3+ which substitutes for the rare earths. However, garnet films on glass substrates are obtained only in polycrystalline form, which causes an important problem yet to be fully solved, the problem of media noise generated at grain boundaries. © 1990.