Magnetic chiral spin textures by imprinting

The unique properties of non-trivial topological states, e.g. magnetic skyrmions may path the way towards novel spintronic devices. However, these spin textures have only been observed in special classes of materials possessing non-centrosymmetric crystal structure and at low temperatures, which limits their application potential. We offer an alternate route to design synthetic magnetic heterostructures that resemble swirls, vortices or skyrmions with distinct topological charge densities at room temperature. By vertically stacking two magnetic nanopatterns with in- and out-of-plane magnetization and tailoring the interlayer exchange coupling, non-collinear spin textures with tunable topological charge can be imprinted.