Ferrimagnetic garnet films for magnetooptic information storage

Reversible magnetooptic memories are believed to compete favorably with magnetic bubble devices and CCD's if economic low-power light sources can be used. For optical information storage at data rates of >106bit/s and blocks of 103bit, memory materials are required exhibiting an optical recording sensitivity on the order of the photographic plate. The presented contribution outlines the recently proposed concept of a magnetooptic/photoconductive sandwich, called MOPS, and shows that certain ferrimagnetic garnet compositions can especially be adapted to such applications.