How to measure the local Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction in Skyrmion Thin-Film Multilayers

The current-driven motion of skyrmions in MnSi and FeGe thinned single crystals could be initiated at current densities of the order of 10⁶ A/m², five orders of magnitude smaller than for magnetic domain walls. The technologically crucial step of replicating these results in thin films has not been successful to-date, but the reasons are not clear. Elucidating them requires analyzing system characteristics at scales of few nm where the key Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interactions vary, and doing so in near-application conditions, i.e. in systems at room temperature, capped with additional layers for oxidation protection. In this work's magnetic force microscopy (MFM) studies of magnetron-sputtered Ir/Co/Pt-multilayers we show skyrmions that are smaller than previously observed, are not circularly symmetric, and are pinned to 50-nm wide areas where the DM interaction is higher than average. This finding matches our measurement of inhomogeneity of the magnetic moment areal density, which amounts to a standard deviation of the Co layer thickness of 0.3 monolayers in our 0.6 nm thick Co layers. This likely originates in small Co layer thickness variation and alloying. These film characteristics must be controlled with greater precision to preclude skyrmion pinning.