Includes bibliographical references (p. 261-294) and index.

Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction -- 1.1. Quantization and confinement in nano-materials -- 1.2. Nanostructuring -- 1.3. Confining the superconducting condensate -- 1.4. Nucleation of superconductivity in presence of spatially modulated magnetic fields -- 1.5. Vortex matter in superconductors -- 1.5.1. The structure of a single vortex -- 1.5.2. The vortex lattice -- general considerations -- 1.5.3. Vortex lattices in thin films -- 1.5.4. Vortex lattices in type-1.5 superconductors -- 1.6. Flux pinning -- 1.6.1. Structural pinning -- 1.6.2. Magnetic pinning -- 2. Individual Nanostructures -- 2.1. Line -- 2.2. Loop -- 2.3. Disc -- 2.4. The cross-over from loop to dot -- 2.5. Symmetry-induced antivortices in mesoscopic superconductors -- 2.5.1. Square -- 2.5.2. Triangle -- 2.5.3. Rectangles -- 2.6. The magnetization of singly connected nanostructures --

4.2.6. Composite antidot lattices -- 4.3. Ratchet effects in antidot lattices -- 4.3.1. Vortex rectification in films with asymmetric pinning -- 4.3.2. Controlled multiple reversals of a ratchet effect -- 4.3.3. The origin of reversed vortex ratchet motion -- 5. Superconductor-Ferromagnet Hybrid Systems -- 5.1. Field polarity dependent vortex pinning in laterally nanostructured S/F systems -- 5.1.1. Vortex pinning by magnetic dots -- 5.1.2. Commensurate vortex domain formation -- 5.2. Field induced superconductivity -- 5.3. Dipole-induced vortex ratchet effects -- 5.3.1. Generation of vortex-antivortex pairs -- 5.3.2. Switching rectification properties -- 5.4. Superconductivity in stray fields of magnetic domains -- 5.4.1. Domain superconductivity and domain-wall superconductivity -- 5.4.2. Direct visualization of reverse-domain superconductivity -- 5.4.3. Superconducting -- normal-state junctions induced by stray magnetic fields.

2.6.1. Disc -- 2.6.2. Triangle -- 2.6.3. Square -- 2.7. Dynamic effects in mesoscopic structures -- 2.7.1. Rectification effects in a triangle -- 2.7.2. Reversal of the diode effect -- 2.7.3. The diode effect in a disk -- 2.7.4. Comparison with a theoretical model -- 2.8. Hybrid individual cells -- 2.8.1. Square with magnetic dot -- 2.8.2. Phase shifter -- 3. Clusters of Nanocells -- 3.1. One-dimensional clusters of loops -- 3.2. Two-dimensional clusters of antidots -- 3.3. Magnetically coupled loops -- 4. Laterally Nanostructured Superconductors -- 4.1. The Tc(H) phase boundary of superconducting films with an antidot lattice -- 4.2. Pinning in laterally nanostructured superconductors -- 4.2.1. Pinning by au antidot or a columnar defect -- 4.2.2. Regular pinning arrays -- 4.2.3. Regular pinning arrays with ns = 1 -- 4.2.4. Multiquanta vortex lattices (ns > 1) -- 4.2.5. Crossover from pinning arrays to networks (ns >> 1) --