MAGNETO-OPTICAL RECORDING MEDIUM

Abstract: A magneto-optical recording medium comprises a thin amorphous alloy film of Gd-Nd-M-Fe (M: at least one of Dy and Ho) having an axis of easy magnetization in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the film.

Description: The present invention relates to a magneto-optical recording medium which is applied to a disk memory for a computer, a reloadable optical memory for document filing or the like. Description of the Prior Art As to the material for the aforementioned magneto-optical recording medium which can be put into practice, mainly required are the following conditions: (i) magnetization is oriented vertically to a film surface; (ii) the Curie temperature is within a range of 100°C to 200°C; (iii) the medium has large coercive force; and (iv) the value of √ R ·Θk is large, assuming that R represents reflection factor and Θk represents Kerr's angle of rotation. It is well known that when rare earth elements such as Gd and Tb are added to Fe, magnetic anisotropic energy is increased to form a vertical magnetic anisotropic film. Thus, a thin film of amorphous alloy, mainly composed of Tb, Fe and Co has been put into practice as the material for a magneto-optical recording medium. Examples of such thin films are those of GdTbFe, TbFeCo, GdTbFeCo and the like. These conventional thin amorphous alloy films satisfy all of the aforementioned conditions. However, Tb, which is an important component of the aforementioned thin amorphous alloy films, is one of the most resourceless materials in the rare earth elements. Thus, awaited is development of a thin amorphous alloy film containing no Tb, which can serve equally to those of GdTbFe, TbFeCo and GdTbFeCo. Clark numbers of principal rare earth elements are as follows: Gd: 6 x 10⁻⁴ Nd: 2.2 x 10⁻³ Sm: 6 x 10⁻⁴ Dy: 4 x 10⁻⁴ Ho: 1 x 10⁻⁴ Tb: 8 x 10⁻⁵ In the aforementioned point of view, amorphous magneto-optical recording media employing no Tb have been developed in recent years. For example, Gd-Fe satisfies the aforementioned conditions except for that requiring coercive force, and hence Sm is is added to Gd-Fe to increase the coercive force (Japan Institute of Applied Magnetics, ninth meeting summary p. 193). However, Gd-Sm-Fe is small in vertical magnetic anisotropy, and an effective recording medium cannot be obtained by the same. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a magneto-optical recording medium which can satisfy all of the conditions required for a magneto-optical recording material without employing extremely resourceless Tb. The magneto-optical recording medium according to the present invention is prepared by a thin amorphous alloy film of Gd-Nd-Ho-Fe having an axis of easy magnetization in a direction perpendicular to the film surface, whereas the PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN, P field, vol. 9, no. 37, February 16, 1985, p. 120 P 335, of JP-A-53178641 already describes an Gd-Nd-Dy-Fe alloy. The inventor has found that amorphous alloy obtained by adding Nd to GdFe alloy is larger in coercive force than GdFe alloy. Further, the inventor has also found that GdNdFe can easily attain vertical magnetic anisotropic energy higher than that of GdFe, i.e., in excess of 1 x 10⁵ erg/cm³ dissimilarly to GdSmFe. On the basis of such a viewpoint, GdNdFe alloy is employed for a magneto-optical recording medium according to the present invention. However, the Curie point is excessively increased by adding Nd to GdFe. Therefore, at least Ho is added in order to suppress such increase in Curie point, also in comparison to Dy (cf. Fig. 3). The following relational expressions preferably hold, assuming that X, Y, Z and W represent atomic density levels of Gd, Nd, Ho and Fe respectively: X + Y + Z + W > 0.95 0.1 ≦ X ≦ 0.3 0.03 ≦ Y ≦ 0.15 Z ≦ 0.15 X + Y + Z + W > 0.95 since magnetic and magneto-optical characteristics of the thin amorphous alloy film are not substantially influenced even if less than 5 % of other element is added. It is recognized that oxidation resistance and corrosion resistance are improved by adding a small amount of element such as Pt, Ti, Al, Cr, Mo or Ta. The atomic density of Gd is set within the range of 0.1 to 0.3 in order to suppress medium noise caused by conversion into amorphous alloy and to maintain residual magnetization particularly at a temperature lower than the Curie point as well as to prevent lowering of Kerr's angle of rotation in reading. If the atomic density of Gd is less than 0.1, the amorphous alloy cannot be easily formed since residual magnetization is small while coercive force is also extremely small. When the atomic density of Gd is in excess of 0.3 to the contrary, the coercive force is decreased. The coercive force of the thin amorphous alloy film is increased in proportion to the atomic density of Nd. However, if the atomic density of Nd is in excess of 0.15, the Curie temperature is excessively increased to deteriorate the recording characteristic. If the atomic density of Nd is less than 0.03 to the contrary, the coercive force cannot be effectively increased. As hereinabove described, the Curie point of the thin amorphous alloy film is increased by addition of Nd. Dy or Ho is adapted to suppress excessive increase of the Curie point. The atomic density Ho must be increased as that of Nd is increased. With respect to Nd having atomic density of 0.15, however, the effect of lowering the Curie point is substantially saturated when the atomic density Ho is 0.15. The Curie point is not further lowered even Ho in excess of 0.15 is added. The magneto-optical recording medium according to the present invention will cause no rise in cost due to material shortage since the extremely resourceless Tb is not employed. Further, the inventive magneto-optical recording medium has Kerr's angle of rotation and coercive force equal to or higher than those of GdTbFe, TbFeCo and GdTbFeCo, which have been generally regarded most practical, while the same has no problem in vertical magnetic anisotropic energy, dissimilarly to GdSmFe or the like. The magneto-optical recording medium according to the present invention can be sufficiently put into practice since the Curie temperature can be lowered to less than 200°C. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 illustrates influence exerted by Nd composition ratio to coercive force in the magneto-optical recording medium according to the present invention, in which the vertical axis indicates the coercive force and the horizontal axis indicates atomic density of Nd; Fig. 2 illustrates relation between Nd composition ratio and vertical magnetic anisotropic energy, in which the vertical axis indicates the vertical magnetic anisotropic energy and the horizontal axis indicates atomic density of Nd and that of Sm; and Fig. 3 illustrates relation between Dy atomic density of GdNdDyFe and the Curie point and Ho atomic density of GdNdHoFe and the Curie point, in which the vertical axis indicates the Curie point and the horizontal axis indicates atomic density levels of Dy and Ho. EXAMPLE Gd, Nd, Ho chips of 5 mm square were arranged on Fe targets to form films of magneto-optical recording media according to the present invention on glass substrates through general RF double pole sputtering. The respective components were varied in atomic density to prepare various types of thin amorphous alloy films. Ultimate vacuum was 6,67 x 10⁻⁵ Pa and 205 W was inputted with respect to target size of 130 mm⊘. Sputtering gas was prepared by Ar to perform sputtering at a gas pressure of 3.5 x 10⁻² Torr for 10 minutes. The films were 180 to 220 nm in thickness. As the result of X-ray diffraction, all of the films were amorphous. No particular bias voltage was applied. Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show the results thus obtained. Fig. 1 shows influence exerted by Nd composition ratio to coercive force. Namely, the coercive force was measured while varying the Nd composition ratio. It is obvious that the coercive force is increased by adding Nd to GdFe. Fig. 2 shows relation between the Nd composition ratio and vertical magnetic anisotropic energy. For the purpose of comparison, those of Gd-Sm-Fe and GdFe are also shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 3 shows relation between Dy atomic density of GdNdDyFe and the Curie point as well as relation between Ho atomic density of GdNdHoFe and the Curie point. It is obvious from the results as shown in Figs. 1 to 3 that Gd-Nd-Ho-Fe has sufficient coercive force and vertical magnetic anisotropic energy for vertical magnetic recording. Although the Curie point is increased when a large amount of Nd is contained, it is obvious that the Curie point is sufficiently decreased by adding Ho. Kerr's angle of rotation Θk was measured through a semiconductor laser of 820 nm. The results are as follows: Gd 0.21 Fe 0.79 : 0.33 Gd 0.15 Nd 0.06 Fe 0.79 : 0.35 Gd 0.13 Nd 0.12 Fe 0.75 : 0.40 Gd 0.13 Nd 0.10 Ho 0.02 Fe 0.75 : 0.40 Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the spirit and scope of the present invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

Claims: A magneto-optical recording medium comprising a thin amorphous alloy film of Gd-Nd-Ho-Fe having an axis of easy magnetization in a direction perpendicular to the surface of said film. A magneto-optical recording medium in accordance with claim 1, wherein the following relational expressions hold assuming that X, Y, Z and W represent atomic density levels of Gd, Nd, Ho and Fe: X + Y + Z + W > 0.95 0.1 ≦ X ≦ 0.3 0.03 ≦ Y ≦ 0.15 Z ≦ 0.15 A magneto-optical recording medium in accordance with claim 1, characterized by the fact that said alloy comprising Gd-Nd-Ho-Fe is added by a small amount of at least one element of Pt, Ti, Al, Cr, Mo or Ta.

Inventors: TAKANO, SATOSHI C/O OSAKA WORKS
Applicants: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
Application year: 1987
Main classification: G11B13
IPC codes: H01F10, G11B11, C22C38