Fig. 1

Skyrmions and single atomic defects: spin structure and magnetic moments. a Illustration of the cross-section of PdFe/Ir(111) surface with the defects location (positions label 1–5). b Chemical trend of local magnetic moments as function of the transition-metal impurity as single defects located at the collinear configuration (solid line) or close to the skyrmion center (dashed line). The magnetic coupling between the defect and the Fe-substrate is antiferromagnetic (AF) on left of Fe and ferromagnetic (FM) on right of Mn. c–f Spin structure of a skyrmion interacting with V-inatom at different positions. The green arrow represents the direction of the impurity magnetic moment and the color bar represents the magnitude of the z-component of the magnetization for each Fe atom