  We study the effect of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) on
current-induced magnetic switching of a perpendicularly magnetized
heavy-metal/ferromagnet/oxide trilayer both experimentally and through
micromagnetic simulations. We report the generation of stable helical
magnetization stripes for a sufficiently large DMI strength in the switching
region, giving rise to intermediate states in the magnetization confirming the
essential role of the DMI on switching processes. We compare the simulation and
experimental results to a macrospin model, showing the need for a micromagnetic
approach. The influence of the temperature on the switching is also discussed.
