  We show that the presence of a localized curvilinear defect drastically
changes magnetic properties of a thin perpendicularly magnetized ferromagnetic
film. For a large enough defect amplitude a discrete set of equilibrium
magnetization states appears forming a ladder of energy levels. Each
equilibrium state has either zero or unit topological charge, i.e.
topologically trivial and skyrmion multiplets generally appear. Transitions
between the levels with the same topological charge are allowed and can be
utilized to encode and switch a bit of information. There is a wide range of
geometrical and material parameters, where the skyrmion level has the lowest
energy. As a result, periodically arranged curvilinear defects generate a
skyrmion lattice as the ground state.
