Synthesizing skyrmion bound pairs in Fe-Gd thin films

We show that properly engineered amorphous Fe-Gd alloy thin films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy exhibit bound pairs of like-polarity, opposite helicity skyrmions at room temperature. Magnetic mirror symmetry planes present in the stripe phase, instead of chiral exchange, determine the internal skyrmion structure and the net achirality of the skyrmion phase. Our study shows that stripe domain engineering in amorphous alloy thin films may enable the creation of skyrmion phases with technologically desirable properties. Published by AIP Publishing.