Skyrmion and helical states in thin layers of magnets and liquid crystals

Novel types of barrel-shaped chiral skyrmions can exist as isolated topological defects or as bound states in magnetic nanolayers with intrinsic and surface/interface induced chirality. The equilibrium parameters of chiral modulations calculated as functions of applied fields, layer thicknesses, and values of surface and volume uniaxial anisotropies allow to find optimal parameters for skyrmionic states in magnetic nanolayers. Our findings also show that in cholesteric cells with homeotropic anchoring smooth skyrmionic textures can be induced as an intriguing alternative to common disclination penetrated patterns.