The effects of field history on magnetic skyrmion formation in [Pt/Co/Ir]3 multilayers

We report on the formation of Ne ' el-type magnetic bubble skyrmions at room temperature in [Pt/Co/Ir]3 multilayered thin films after an in-plane magnetic field treatment. Polar magneto-optical Kerr Effect (p-MOKE) microscopy images show that the dendritic magnetic configurations observed after AC demagnetization evolve into magnetic bubble skyrmions after the application and subsequent removal of an in-plane magnetic field. Micromagnetic simulations were used to systematically investigate the role of the in-plane magnetic field magnitude, misalignment of the sample, and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMI) in generating bubble skyrmions during the field treatment. The simulations show that in-plane fields slightly below the saturation field are the most effective at producing skyrmions, and, furthermore, a small field angle away from the sample plane not only leads to improved skyrmion formation but also provides a means to select the skyrmion polarity where the direction of the out-of-plane component of the field is opposite to the direction of the skyrmion cores. This field treatment scheme leads to a simple and reliable way to create magnetic bubble skyrmions in multilayered thin films with DMI.

Automated summary

We report the formation of Ne ' el-type magnetic bubble skyrmions at room temperature in [Pt/Co/Ir]3 multilayered thin films after an in-plane magnetic field treatment. Micromagnetic simulations show that in-plane fields slightly below the saturation field are the most effective at producing skyrmions, and a small field angle away from the sample plane not only leads to improved skyrmion formation but also provides a means to select the skyrmion polarity.