Patent ID: 6288980
Filing Date: 2001-09-11
Classification: A23L,G01R,G11B,H01F

Abstract:
A magneto-optical head for reproducing information recorded on a magnetic carrier, the magneto-optical head forming a propagation path for an incident polarized optical beam provided by a polarized optical beam source and for a reflected polarized optical beam whose polarized has been altered by magnetic fields from the magnetic carrier, the head comprising:an underlay member that is transparent in the spectral range that permits the passage of the optical beam, the underlay member has opposite surfaces positioned in the propagation path for the incident and the reflected polarized optical beams, one of the surfaces is flat and faces the magnetic carrier when the magneto-optical head is positioned for reproducing information, the other of the opposite surfaces has fragments that curve convexly outward from the flat surface and that are positioned in the propagation path for the incident and the reflected polarized optical beams; anda thin-film magneto-optical transducer of mono-crystalline magnetic material that is transparent in the spectral range that permits passage of the optical beam and sensitive to an external magnetic field to alter the polarization of optical beams passing through the transducer, the transducer is positioned in the propagation path for incident and reflected polarized optical beams between the flat surface of the underlay member and an optically reflective surface of a body that directs the reflected polarized optical beam along the propagation path so that the transducer intercepts magnetic fields from the magnetic carrier when the magneto-optical head is positioned for reproducing information.