  The influence of in-plane and canted magnetic fields on spin spirals and
skyrmions in atomic bilayer islands of palladium and iron on an Ir(111)
substrate is investigated by scanning tunnelling microscopy at low
temperatures. It is shown that the spin spiral propagation direction is
determined by the island's border which can be explained by equilibrium state
calculations on a triangular lattice. By application of in-plane fields, the
spin spiral reorientates its propagation direction and becomes distorted,
thereby allowing a proof for its cycloidal nature. Furthermore, it is
demonstrated that the skyrmions' shape is distorted in canted fields which
allows to determine the sense of magnetisation rotation as enforced by the
interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction.
