Interlayer DMI (IL-DMI) has been recently predicted and observed in multilayer thin film heterostructures^1-3, coupling two neighboring magnetic films via a non-magnetic interlayer in a chiral fashion. IL-DMI could be utilized to obtain complex chiral magnetic states in one layer, controlled by the magnetic configuration of a neighboring layer, of great interest to spintronic applications.

Previous work using magnetometry techniques indicates the existence of non-zero IL-DMI in Synthetic Antiferromagnetic (SAF) bilayers with highly asymmetric properties; one layer close to the spin reorientation transition, and the other fully out-of-plane. In these systems, IL-DMI is manifested as a chiral exchange bias under in-plane magnetic fields.

In this contribution, we further investigate these systems via a combination of X-ray magnetic scattering and imaging techniques, revealing the presence of periodic chiral magnetic structures. In particular, X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism Photo Electron Emission Microscopy (XMCD-PEEM) measurements evidence the formation of ring-like structures of sizes after applying a field cycling protocol (Fig. 1). In order to understand more in detail the magnetic configuration of these textures, we reconstruct the spatially resolved magnetization vector by combining different relative sample-beam XMCD projections, yielding the presence of 360 degree domain walls separating the outer and inner domains. During the presentation, we will discuss in detail the role that IL-DMI and other magnetic interactions play in the formation and shape of these rings.