This invention is comprised of a high density magneto-optical information storage medium utilizing the properties of an ultrathin iron film on a palladium substrate. The present invention comprises a magneto-optical medium capable of thermal and magnetic stability and capable of possessing a vertical orientation of the magnetization vector for the magnetic material. Data storage relies on the temperature dependence of the coercivity of the ultrathin film. Data retrieval derives from the Kerr effect which describes the direction of rotation of a plane of polarized light traversing the ultrathin magnetic material as a function of the orientation of the magnetization vector.

The present invention is an improvement on the LIGA microfabrication process wherein a buffer layer is applied to the upper or working surface of a substrate prior to the placement of a resist onto the surface of the substrate. The buffer layer is made from an inert low-Z material (low atomic weight), a material that absorbs secondary X-rays emissions from the substrate that are generated from the substrate upon exposure to a primary X-rays source. Suitable materials for the buffer layer include polyamides and polyimide. The preferred polyimide is synthesized from pyromellitic anhydride and oxydianiline (PMDA-ODA).

This invention is comprised of a high density magneto-optical information storage medium utilizing the properties of an ultrathin iron film on a palladium substrate. The present invention comprises a magneto-optical medium capable of thermal and magnetic stability and capable of possessing a vertical orientation of the magnetization vector for the magnetic material. Data storage relies on the temperature dependence of the coercivity of the ultrathin film. Data retrieval derives from the Kerr effect which describes the direction of rotation of a plane of polarized light traversing the ultrathin magnetic material as a function of the orientation of the magnetization vector.