Controlled skyrmion nucleation in extended magnetic layers using a nanocontact geometry

We propose and numerically simulate a spintronic device layout consisting of a nanocontact on top of an extended Co/Pt bilayer. The interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in such bilayer systems can lead to the possible existence of metastable skyrmions. A small dc current injected through the nanocontact enables the manipulation of the size as well as the annihilation of an initially present skyrmion, while ps-long current pulses allow for the controlled nucleation of single skyrmions underneath the nanocontact. The results are obtained from micromagnetic simulations and can be potentially used for future magnetic storage implementations.