Using the Ginzburg-Landau (GL) theory, we calculate the stability of sample symmetry-induced vortex-antivortex molecules in a mesoscopic superconducting bilayer exposed to a homogeneous magnetic field. We demonstrate the conditions under which the two condensates cooperatively broaden the field-temperature stability range of the composite (joint) vortex-antivortex state. In cases when such broadening is not achieved, a reentrance of the vortex-antivortex state is found at lower temperatures. In a large portion of the phase diagram noncomposite states are possible, in which the antivortex is present in only one of the layers. In this case, we demonstrate that the vortex-antivortex molecule in one of the layers can be pinned and enlarged by interaction with a vortex molecule in the other. Using analogies in the respective GL formalisms, we map our findings for the bilayer onto mesoscopic two-band superconductors.

• Received 6 September 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.87.024501