Recording media

Abstract: A recording media comprises in cross-section, a substrate (52), a first dielectric layer (54), a recording section, a second dielectric layer (70) and a reflector layer (72). The recording section comprises a plurality of thin magneto-optic recording layers (60) interspersed with thin separating dielectric layers (62). The multiple magneto-optic layers act to average out the transition errors and results in improved signal to noise ratio performance.

Description: This invention relates generally to recording media and relates more particularly to optical recording media having a plurality of thin recording layers. Magneto-optic recording disks provide for erasable storage of data. The magneto-optic medium typically comprises a transparent substrate, a first transparent dielectric layer, a magneto-optic recording layer, a second transparent dielectric layer and a reflector layer. A laser beam is focussed on to a spot on the medium and heats up the magneto-optic material to a temperature at which the magnetic domain of the recording layer is changed. A magnetic field is switched in one of two directions to orient the magnetic domain of the spot in either an upward or downward direction. The disk is read by focussing a low power laser beam on to the magneto-optic layer. The Kerr effect will cause the reflected beam's plane of polarization to be rotated either clockwise or counter-clockwise depending upon whether the spot has an upward or downward magnetic orientation. The difference in the rotation is detected and represents either a one or zero. These prior art magneto-optic recording disks have resulted in carrier signal to noise ratios of approximately 63 to 64 dB (30 kHz bandwidth). The medium writing noise, resulting from the irregularities in the magnetic domain transitions, is the primary limiting factor in achieving a high signal to noise ratio. What is needed is a recording medium which will achieve a higher signal to noise ratio. Prior art magneto-optical recording media are known from EP-A-0.314.518. Toward this end and according to the invention, a magneto-optic recording medium is comprised of a substrate, a first transparent nonmagnetic layer, a recording section, a second transparent nonmagnetic layer and a reflector layer. The recording section comprises a plurality of thin magneto-optic recording layers interspersed with separating thin transparent nonmagnetic layers. The multiple magneto-optic layers act to average out the transition jitters in the recorded disk. The result is a medium with a greatly improved signal to noise ratio. For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The invention, which is defined in the attached claims, is described in detail below with reference to the drawings, of which; Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a magneto-optic recording medium of the prior art; Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a first embodiment magneto-optic recording medium of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of a magneto-optic recording medium of the present invention; Fig. 4 is a graph of signal strength and noise level versus frequency for the medium of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the recording section of the present invention showing uncorrelated transitions in the magneto-optic layers. Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a magneto-optic medium of the prior art and is designated by the general reference number 10. Medium 10 has a transparent substrate layer 12. A transparent dielectric layer 14 is located below the substrate 12. A single magneto-optic recording layer 16 is located below the dielectric layer 14. A second transparent dielectric layer 18 is located below the recording layer 16. A reflector layer 20 is located below the dielectric layer 18. Using medium 10 a signal to noise ratio on the order of 63 to 64 dB may be obtained with 30 kilohertz band width. Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a recording medium of the present invention and is designated by the general reference number 50. Medium 50 has a transparent substrate 52. Substrate 52 may be glass or transparent plastics, such as polycarbonate and is approximately 1.2 mm in thickness. The substrate 52 has an index of refraction of approximately 1.5. A transparent nonmagnetic layer 54 is located below substrate 52. Layer 54 is made of an optically transparent material with low light absorption. The index of refraction is approximately 1.7 or higher. A number of materials may be used in layer 54 including such dielectric materials as silicon nitride, aluminum nitride, zirconium oxide or terbium oxide. The thickness of layer 54 is determined by the index of refraction of the material used in layer 54 and the optical enhancement desired. Recording section 56 is located below layer 54. Recording section 56 is comprised of a plurality of thin magneto-optic recording layers 60 interspersed with a plurality of thin separating transparent nonmagnetic layers 62. If there are N number of recording layers 60, then there will be (N-1) number of separating layers 62 interspersed between them. Magneto-optic recording layers 60 may be made of rare earth and transition metal alloys such as terbium iron cobalt. The layers 62 may be made of the same type of material as layer 54. The sum of the thicknesses of all recording layers 60 in section 56 is approximately 15 to 40 nm (150 to 400 Angstroms) thick and this sum is about the same thickness as the single recording layer 16 of the prior art. A transparent nonmagnetic layer 70 is located below section 56. Layer 70 may be made of the same type of material as layer 54. A reflector 72 is located below layer 70. Reflector 72 may be made of aluminum or copper. The thickness of layer 70 may be chosen according to the desired optical enhancement. Medium 50 is manufactured by a sputtering process. Each layer is deposited in succession on the substrate in a separate sputtering process. Fig. 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the recording medium of the present invention and is designated by the general reference number 100. Medium 100 has a substrate 102 of 1.2 mm thickness and made of glass. A first transparent nonmagnetic layer 104 is located below substrate 102. Layer 104 is made of silicon nitride and is approximately 80nm (800 Angstroms) thick. A recording section 106 is located below layer 104. Section 106 is comprised of a pair of magneto-optic layers 110 interspersed by a single transparent nonmagnetic layer 112. Layers 110 are both made of terbium iron cobalt and are each 10 nm (100 Angstroms) thick. Layer 112 is made of silicon nitride and is 10nm (100 Angstroms) thick. A transparent nonmagnetic layer 120 is located below section 106. Layer 120 is made of silicon nitride and is 20 nm (200 Angstroms) thick. A reflector layer 122 is located below layer 120 and is made of aluminum. Medium 100 is manufactured in a sputtering process similar to that used for medium 50. Fig. 4 shows a graph of signal strength and noise versus frequency for reading the medium 100 of Fig. 3. A line 200 represents the noise level of the disk prior to writing. A line 210 represents the signal received when reading the disk. A peak signal 212 represents the recorded data, while the lower levels 214 of line 210 represent the background noise encountered during reading. It can be seen that a carrier signal to noise ratio (point 212 vs. level 214) of approximately 67 dB is obtained. This compares with at most a 64 dB signal to noise ratio of the prior art. Fig. 5 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a recording section 300 of the present invention. A plurality of magneto-optic recording layers 302 are interspersed by a plurality of transparent nonmagnetic layers 304. A line 310 represents the ideal position of the magnetic domain transition in section 300. A plurality of lines 312 represent the actual transition positions in section 300. Arrows in layers 302 represent the direction of the magnetic domain on either side of transitions 312. In this case the layers 302 on the left have a downward magnetic direction and the layers 302 on the right have an upward magnetic direction. The layers 304 are made thick enough so that there is no exchange interaction between the layers 302. This means that the written magnetic transitions in the recording layers 302 are almost independent of each other. The read back transition jitter (i.e. the standard deviation of read back transitions from the ideal average transition) is reduced from that of a single layer by a factor of √N simply by averaging the transition positions of N magneto-optic recording layers that can be reached by the read beam. The media transitions noise will be reduced by 20 log √N (dB). For N equals 2 the expected reduction in jitter noise should be 3 dB. This agrees well with the actual results of Fig. 4 where N equals 2 and the improvement of the carrier signal to noise ratio was approximately 3 dB (from 64 dB to 67 dB). The signal to noise ratio can be improved even further by adding more magneto-optic layers. The only limitation is that the total thickness of the magneto-optic layers must be small enough to allow the read beam to fully penetrate to the lowest magneto-optic layer. Generally, this means keeping the sum of the thicknesses in the recording layers in the recording section 56 at approximately the same thickness as the single recording layer 16 of the prior art. The present invention thus achieves a significant improvement in signal to noise ratio. This improvement will allow the medium to be used at a faster data transfer rate and/or increased recording density.

Claims: A magneto-optical recording medium comprising: a substantially transparent substrate (52); a first substantially transparent nonmagnetic layer (54) formed on the substrate; a recording section (56) formed on the first nonmagnetic layer, the recording section comprising a plurality of N magneto-optical data recording layers (60) interspersed with N-1 substantially transparent nonmagnetic separating layers (62); a second substantially transparent nonmagnetic layer (70) formed on the recording section; and a reflector (72) formed on the second nonmagnetic layer. The medium of claim 1 wherein the total thickness of all said data recording layers in the recording section is less than or equal to 40 nm (400 Angstroms). The medium of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the data recording layers are made of terbium iron cobalt. The medium of claim 1 wherein the separating layer is made of silicon nitride. The medium of claim 1 wherein the first nonmagnetic layer, the separating layers and the second nonmagnetic layer are made of silicon nitride. The medium of claim 1 wherein the separating layer is made of aluminium nitride, zirconium oxide or terbium oxide. The medium as claimed in claim 1 wherein N=2, each of the two recording layers and the single separating layer being 10 nm thick. A method of manufacturing a magneto-optical recording medium comprising the steps of : sputtering a first substantially transparent nonmagnetic layer onto a substantially transparent substrate; sputtering a first data recording layer onto said first nonmagnetic layer; sputtering a second substantially transparent nonmagnetic layer onto said first data recording layer; sputtering a second data recording layer onto said second nonmagnetic layer; sputtering a third substantially transparent nonmagnetic layer onto said second data recording layer; and sputtering a reflective layer onto said third nonmagnetic layer.

Inventors: LIN CHIEN-JUNG, LIN, CHIEN-JUNG
Applicants: IBM, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
Application year: 1990
Main classification: G11B11
IPC codes: G11B11, H01F10