MAGNETO OPTICAL RECORDING MEDIUM, MANUFACTURING METHOD FOR THE SAME, AND METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR READING THE SAME

摘要

A magneto optical recording medium capable of stable recording and readout using a DWDD system is provided. The magneto optical recording medium of the present invention comprises an optical disk substrate and a multilayer recording film comprising essentially a readout layer, an intermediate layer, and a recording layer successively formed on top of the substrate. The readout layer has a smaller magnetic domain wall coercivity than the recording layer. The intermediate layer comprises a magnetic layer whose Curie temperature is lower than the readout layer and the recording layer. A recorded/readout magnetic domain corresponding to recorded/readout information is formed only in a groove area of the optical disk substrate. The thickness of the recording film at the boundary between mutually adjacent recording track areas is smaller than the thickness of the recording film in the center portions of the recording track areas.