title: Room-temperature chiral magnetic skyrmions in ultrathin magnetic nanostructures.
abstract: Magnetic skyrmions are chiral spin structures with a whirling configuration. Their topological properties, nanometre size and the fact that they can be moved by small current densities have opened a new paradigm for the manipulation of magnetization at the nanoscale. Chiral skyrmion structures have so far been experimentally demonstrated only in bulk materials and in epitaxial ultrathin films, and under an external magnetic field or at low temperature. Here, we report on the observation of stable skyrmions in sputtered ultrathin Pt/Co/MgO nanostructures at room temperature and zero external magnetic field. We use high lateral resolution X-ray magnetic circular dichroism microscopy to image their chiral Néel internal structure, which we explain as due to the large strength of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction as revealed by spin wave spectroscopy measurements. Our results are substantiated by micromagnetic simulations and numerical models, which allow the identification of the physical mechanisms governing the size and stability of the skyrmions.
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.|CNRS, SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.|CEA, INAC-SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Boulle
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Institut Néel, 25 avenue des Martyrs, B.P. 166, Grenoble Cedex 9 38042, France.|Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Institut Néel, 25 avenue des Martyrs, B.P. 166, Grenoble Cedex 9 38042, France.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vogel
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.|CNRS, SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.|CEA, INAC-SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.
authors.forename: Hongxin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Institut Néel, 25 avenue des Martyrs, B.P. 166, Grenoble Cedex 9 38042, France.|Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Institut Néel, 25 avenue des Martyrs, B.P. 166, Grenoble Cedex 9 38042, France.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pizzini
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Institut Néel, 25 avenue des Martyrs, B.P. 166, Grenoble Cedex 9 38042, France.|Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Institut Néel, 25 avenue des Martyrs, B.P. 166, Grenoble Cedex 9 38042, France.
authors.forename: Dayane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: de Souza Chaves
authors.affiliation: Elettra-Sincrotrone, S.C.p.A, S.S 14 - km 163.5 in AREA Science Park 34149 Basovizza, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8072-7343
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Locatelli
authors.affiliation: Elettra-Sincrotrone, S.C.p.A, S.S 14 - km 163.5 in AREA Science Park 34149 Basovizza, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Tevfik Onur
authors.initials: TO
authors.lastname: Menteş
authors.affiliation: Elettra-Sincrotrone, S.C.p.A, S.S 14 - km 163.5 in AREA Science Park 34149 Basovizza, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5845-1301
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sala
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.|CNRS, SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.|CEA, INAC-SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.
authors.forename: Liliana D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Buda-Prejbeanu
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.|CNRS, SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.|CEA, INAC-SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.affiliation: LSPM (CNRS-UPR 3407), Université Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 99 avenue Jean-Baptiste Clément, Villetaneuse 93430, France.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Belmeguenai
authors.affiliation: LSPM (CNRS-UPR 3407), Université Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 99 avenue Jean-Baptiste Clément, Villetaneuse 93430, France.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Roussigné
authors.affiliation: LSPM (CNRS-UPR 3407), Université Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 99 avenue Jean-Baptiste Clément, Villetaneuse 93430, France.
authors.forename: Andrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stashkevich
authors.affiliation: LSPM (CNRS-UPR 3407), Université Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 99 avenue Jean-Baptiste Clément, Villetaneuse 93430, France.
authors.forename: Salim Mourad
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Chérif
authors.affiliation: ALBA Synchrotron Light Facility, Carretera BP 1413, Km. 3.3, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona 08290, Spain.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aballe
authors.affiliation: ALBA Synchrotron Light Facility, Carretera BP 1413, Km. 3.3, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona 08290, Spain.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Foerster
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.|CNRS, SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.|CEA, INAC-SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.
authors.forename: Mairbek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chshiev
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.|CNRS, SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.|CEA, INAC-SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Auffret
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.|CNRS, SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.|CEA, INAC-SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.
authors.forename: Ioan Mihai
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Miron
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.|CNRS, SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.|CEA, INAC-SPINTEC, Grenoble F-38000, France.
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gaudin
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