Asymmetric defect distribution generates bulk Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction in Pt/Co/Pt

The Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction (DMI) in magnetic multilayers plays a pivotal role in spintronic applications by enabling the stabilization and manipulation of chiral spin textures, including chiral domain walls and skyrmions. While interfacial DMI in asymmetric multilayers is well established, a substantial DMI persists in symmetric multilayers, where the opposing interface contributions should, in principle, cancel. The microscopic origin of this effect remains unresolved. Here, we show defect-mediated bulk DMI in sputtered nominally symmetric Pt/Co/Pt multilayers. Using Lorentz transmission electron microscopy and aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy, we systematically elucidate the effect of argon sputter gas pressure on both magnetic and structural properties. Increasing the pressure markedly enhances the net DMI, thereby stabilizing chiral spin textures. Atomic-scale analysis reveals the absence of well-defined interfaces, confirming that the DMI predominantly arises in the bulk rather than at the interfaces. However, macroscopic compositional asymmetries are remarkably weak, and spin–orbit coupling shows no significant enhancement, rendering them insufficient to account for the observed DMI. Crucially, our statistical analysis of dislocations uncovers a strongly biased spatial distribution. These asymmetrically distributed dislocations, accompanied by local atomic displacements, combined with compositional gradients, generate the bulk DMI through the three-site Fert–Levy mechanism. Our results establish defect engineering as an effective strategy for controlling DMI, offering new design principles for spintronic devices.