Stable Vortex-Antivortex Molecules in Mesoscopic Superconducting Triangles

Abstract

A thermodynamically stable vortex-antivortex pattern has been revealed in equilateral mesoscopic type I superconducting triangles, contrary to type II superconductors where similar patterns are unstable. The stable vortex-antivortex "molecule" appears due to the interplay between two factors: a repulsive vortex-antivortex interaction in type I superconductors and the vortex confinement in the mesoscopic triangle.