D. Raasch et H. Wierenga, EXCHANGE COUPLING AND SWITCHING FIELDS OF RE-TM DOUBLE AND TRIPLE-LAYER STACKS FOR DIRECT OVERWRITE, Journal of magnetism and magnetic materials, 168(3), 1997, pp. 336-346
The recording properties of common single layer magneto-optical (MO) d
isks can be improved by introducing exchange coupled rare-earth (RE) t
ransition-metal (TM) films, both from the point of view of capacity an
d data transfer rate. Direct overwrite (DOW) is a method to double the
data transfer rate during writing, because the write process of new b
its and the erase process of old bits is performed simultaneously. MO
multilayer stacks must exhibit exchange coupling in order to be suitab
le for DOW. The switching fields of each layer depend on coercive ener
gy, magnetic field energy and the energy of the interface wall between
coupled layers. In this paper we discuss the dependence of switching
fields on layer thickness and wall energy sigma(W) for several double
and triple layer stacks. The memory and reference layers are Tb-FeCo a
nd Dy-FeCo, respectively. Triple layer stacks have an intermediate lay
er (GdFe and GdFeCo) to adjust the wall energy. DOW presupposes a weak
coupling at 300 K and a strong coupling at higher temperatures. This
requires a very thick reference layer in double layer stacks, causing
excessive heat capacities. However, for triple layers the DOW demands
are met in much thinner stacks as the wall energy is adjusted through
the intermediate layer. The wall energy of the intermediate layer is d
etermined by its anisotropy. We studied the anisotropy of evaporated G
d-Fe, Gd-Co and Gd-FeCo films as a function of composition. Gd-Co show
ed only in-plane anisotropy, while Gd-Fe was perpendicularly magnetize
d for Fe contents up to 87 at%. Adding Co to Gd-Fe leads to a layer wi
th a temperature dependent easy axis. The carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR)
of a series of magneto-optical disks, both double and triple layer st
acks, was determined. The maximum CNR of 51.4 dB is comparable to resu
lts on a single layer disk with the same memory layer. On triple layer
stacks a CNR > 45 dB could be written at a laser power below 9 mW.