OPTOMAGNETIC RECORDING MEDIUM

PURPOSE:To improve remarkably the SN ratio of a reproducing signal from a recording medium by forming a ferrimagnetic garnet layer on a ferromagnetic thin film made of an alloy layer of a rare earth metal and a transition metal having a vertical anisotropy so as to utilize a large Farady effect of the garnet. CONSTITUTION:The medium is heated locally by irradiating a laser light and the magnetization of a part 9 of a magnetic alloy thin film 7 is inverted by applying an external magnetic field at the same time. As a result, the magnetization of the garnet layer 8 is inverted by the magnetic exchange coupling or magnetostatic coupling existing between the magnetic alloy layer 7 and the garnet layer 8. The magnetization inverting domain of the garnet layer 8 tends to increase more than the inverting domain of the magnetic alloy layer 7, but the garnet thin film 8 can be made close to the size of the magnetization inverting domain 9 of the alloy layer 7 by forming the garnet thin film 8 as a vertical magnetizing film. That is, it is possible to form the garnet thin film 8 as vertical magnetization film by forming the garnet thin film as [111] priority oriented film, thereby increasing considerably the polarized angle of the recording medium.