Observation of sub-100 nm N\'{e}el skyrmions at room temperature

Magnetic skyrmions are topologically stable spin textures that have attracted tremendous attention in the field of spintronics. As compared to Bloch skyrmions, which are typical for only few bulk chiral magnets, N\'{e}el skyrmions in magnetic multilayers [1, 2, 3] may be more ubiquitous and have the advantage that included layers of heavy metals provide efficient current induced spin-orbit torques. By optimizing the stacking structure, we present an experimental strategy towards nanometer-scale skyrmions at room temperature in the absence of a magnetic field. Furthermore, we discuss the experimental challenge of identifying the chiral nature of N\'{e}el skyrmions by using Lorentz transmission electron microscopy. Our results constitute an important step for enabling skyrmion based ultra-high density data storage, and for probing topological physics at room temperature. [1] W. Jiang, et al., Science, 349, 283 (2015). [2] S. Woo, et al., arXiv:1502.07376 (2015). [3] C. Moreau-Luchaire, et al., arXiv:1502.07853 (2015).