New magnetooptic head with a built-in generator for a bias magnetic field.

A high performance magnetooptic head, which generates a bias magnetic field itself, has been developed. It has a moving magnet actuator to drive an objective lens. The moving magnets have two functions. One is to apply a constant magnetic field on the recording medium. The other is to comprise a magnetic circuit for focusing and tracking control. This magnetooptic head is suitable for use in the two-head erase and write method, in which it is not necessary to change the polarity of the bias magnetic field. Moreover, it enables designing a small-sized magnetooptic disk drive, because a bias magnetic field generator is built into the optical head.