A head arrangement for reading a magneto-optical recording medium (10)
having a storage layer and a read-out layer, includes an improved field
generating device for generating a magnetic field used for copying a
written mark from said storage layer to said read-out layer upon laser
heating, the field generating device being arranged to generate a
predetermined field gradient and/or a predetermined local maximum in a
field component perpendicular to the surface of the recording medium
(10). The width of the spatial overlap can thus be reduced such that an
improved resolution and/or power margin is obtained.