Magneto-optical recording by short pulses

Abstract

It was experimentally demonstrated that a laser pulse with a duration of less than 10 ns gives a steep temperature distribution in the film plane with little thermal diffusion out of the irradiated area. This results in the writing of domains whose sizes closely fit the cross sections of the laser power profile, and a reduction in the amount of laser energy needed for writing. The experimental results agree well with thermal analysis in which the thermal conductivity adopted for the film is one order of magnitude smaller than that of the bulk material. The advantages of short pulse writing in high-density recording are described.