Patent ID: 7313055

Claim:
A magnetic domain wall displacement type magneto-optical recording medium, comprising: a magnetic domain wall displacement layer in which a magnetic domain wall displaces to contribute to information reproduction, wherein the magnetic domain wall displacement layer comprises a plurality of magnetic layers containing at least a first magnetic layer and a second magnetic layer, a Curie temperature of the first magnetic layer is the highest among Curie temperatures of the plurality of magnetic layers and a Curie temperature of the second magnetic layer is the lowest among Curie temperatures of the plurality of magnetic layers; a memory layer holding a recorded magnetic domain corresponding to the information; and a switching layer which is arranged between the magnetic domain wall displacement layer and the memory layer and has a Curie temperature lower than Curie temperatures of the magnetic domain wall displacement layer and the memory layer, wherein a magnitude of a net magnetization of the magnetic domain wall displacement layer in a temperature range from the Curie temperature of the switching layer to the Curie temperature of the first magnetic layer is 15 emu/cc or less, which is attained under the following conditions, (i) a compensation temperature of the first magnetic layer is higher than the Curie temperature of the second magnetic layer; and (ii) a temperature range in which a rare earth sublattice magnetization of the first magnetic layer is predominant and a temperature range in which a transition metal sublattice magnetization of the second magnetic layer is predominant overlap.