Abstract:
Manganese bismuth films having improved characteristics for recording information by Curie-point switching, and especially for Curie-point recording of information in analogue form, can be produced by a vacuum deposition of Bi and Mn with an atomic ratio of Mn to Bi between 2 and 3.5 or 1.4 and 1.6, followed by a specialized heat treatment which includes very brief exposure to a temperature between about 275* and 300*C. Similar MnBi films can be produced more reliably and reproducibly if the initial Bi layer is annealed prior to deposition of the Mn layer. Such an annealing step renders most other factors of the processing relatively non-critical. Deposition of both initial layers is preferably carried out in a vacuum approaching 10 8 Torr, but at least traces of oxygen are then made available to the reaction site prior to the subsequent reaction of the Mn and Bi layers to form ferromagnetic MnBi.
Abstract:
In a magneto-optic readout system, a polarized beam of light from a laser is subjected to the magneto-optic effect of a magnetic record medium, and then passed through an analyzer which resolves the beam into two orthogonal vector components so oriented that the two components are of equal amplitude when the angle of rotation due to the magneto-optic effect is zero. Separate photodetectors produce two output signals which are proportional to the amplitudes of the vector components. The two output signals are combined in a differential amplifier through separate logarithmic transfer circuits to produce an output signal proportional to the ratio of the two original detector signals.