Theory of skyrmion states in liquid crystals: axisymmetric cholesteric bubbles (spherulites)

Within the Oseen-Frank theory we derive numerically exact solutions for axisymmetric localized states in chiral liquid crystal layers with homeotropic anchoring. These solutions describe recently observed two-dimensional skyrmions in confinement-frustrated chiral nematics [P. J. Acherman et al. Phys. Rev. E 90, 012505 (2014)]. We stress that these solitonic states arise due to a fundamental stabilization mechanism responsible for the formation of skyrmions in cubic helimagnets and other noncentrosymmetric condensed-matter systems.