magnetooptic disk

magnetooptic disk

[mag‚ned·ō‚äp·tik ′disk] (communications) A data storage device in which information is stored in small magnetic marks along tracks on a rotating disk; the information is read by sensing the change in polarization of reflected focused light and can be altered by using a higher-power focused light spot to locally heat the medium and, with the application of an external magnetic field, switch the magnetic domains of the material.