  The potential for application of magnetic skyrmions in high density storage
devices provides a strong drive to investigate and exploit their stability and
manipulability. Through a three-dimensional micromagnetic hysteresis study, we
investigate the question of existence of skyrmions in cylindrical
nanostructures of variable thickness. We quantify the applied field and
thickness dependence of skyrmion states, and show that these states can be
accessed through relevant practical hysteresis loop measurement protocols. As
skyrmionic states have yet to be observed experimentally in confined
helimagnetic geometries, our work opens prospects for developing viable
hysteresis process-based methodologies to access and observe skyrmionic states.
