Abstract

The standard magneto-optic head design, employing differential signal detection, uses a nonabsorbing leaky coating beam splitter. This beam splitter transmits the carrier polarization of the forward propagating beam, which illuminates the disk, and reflects the beam returning from the disk to the differential readout channel. The selection of the beam splitter reflectivities R_S and R_C of two mutually orthogonal polarizations of the signal and carrier, respectively, effects the magnitude of the differential signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

© 1994 Optical Society of America