Facing the ever-growing demand for data storage will most probably require a new paradigm. Magnetic skyrmions are anticipated to solve this issue as they are arguably the smallest spin textures in magnetic thin films in nature. We designed cobalt-based multilayered thin films where the cobalt layer is sandwiched between two heavy metals providing additive interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, which reach about 2 mJ/m2 in the case of the Ir/Co/Pt multilayers. Using a magnetization-sensitive scanning x-ray transmission microscopy technique, we imaged magnetic bubble-like domains in these multilayers. The study of their behavir in magnetic field allows us to conclude that they are actually magnetic skyrmions stabilized by the Dzyaloshinsskii-Moriya interaction. This discoevry of stable skyrmions at room temperature in a technologically relevant material opens the way for device applications in a near future.
@article{arxiv.1502.07853,
title = {Skyrmions at room temperature : From magnetic thin films to magnetic multilayers},
author = {C. Moreau-Luchaire and C. Moutafis and N. Reyren and J. Sampaio and N. Van Horne and C. A. F. Vaz and K. Bouzehouane and K. Garcia and C. Deranlot and P. Warnicke and P. Wohlhüter and J. M. George and J. Raabe and V. Cros and A. Fert},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1502.07853},
year = {2018}
}