Skyrmions in magnetic multilayers: current status and future challenges

Topological magnetism is an emerging research field in nanomagnetism, the objective of which is to explore novel topological spin textures and potential device applications. These topological spin textures include magnetic vortices, magnetic skyrmions, magnetic bobbers, etc. In this article we use skyrmions in magnetic multilayers as an example to address the following important issues: material systems with optimized properties, topologic physics, characterization, manipulation and detection schemes, and challenges for future device applications.