"As digital data storage technology undergoes enormous change, electrical engineers, physicists, and materials scientists need to keep pace with the materials requirements for recording media. Expert contributors -- together with world-class authorities Richard J. Gambino and Takao Suzuki -- bring you a practical, comprehensive guide to materials design and selection for magneto-optical storage media. This authoritative book explores multilayered thin films, exchanged coupled layers, materials used in current products, and materials of potential interest not yet available in practical applications. A detailed analysis concerning the physics of magneto-optical recording will help you make informed decisions about materials properties. You will also find an extensive discussion of systems and engineering design features for magneto-optical storage devices. This discussion will help you to understand how materials properties impact system performance. You will gain additional insight into this fast-developing field through in-depth coverage of these featured topics: * Rare earth-transition metal amorphous alloys, multilayers, garnets, intermetallic compounds, and ferrites * Basic principles of domain dynamics and recording physics * Latest developments in exchange coupled layers, direct overwrite, and magnetic superresolution * Minidisc, future high-density systems, and DVD format. MAGNETO-OPTICAL RECORDING MATERIALS is essential reading for anyone who needs to keep up-to-date with the latest advances in digital data storage technology.".