  Magnetic skyrmions are small swirling topological defects in the
magnetization texture stabilized by the protection due to their topology. In
most cases they are induced by chiral interactions between atomic spins
existing in non-centrosymmetric magnetic compounds or in thin films in which
inversion symmetry is broken by the presence of an interface. The skyrmions can
be extremely small with diameters in the nanometer range and, importantly, they
behave as particles that can be moved, created or annihilated, making them
suitable for abacus-type applications in information storage, logic or
neuro-inspired technologies. Up to the last years skyrmions were observed only
at low temperature (and in most cases under large applied fields) but important
efforts of research has been recently devoted to find thin film and
multilayered structures in which skyrmions are stabilized above room
temperature and manipulated by current. This article focuses on these recent
advances on the route to devices prototypes.
