title: Experimental observation of the crystallization of hard-sphere colloidal particles by sedimentation onto flat and patterned surfaces.
abstract: We present a confocal microscopy study of 1.55 microm monodisperse silica hard spheres as they sediment and crystallize at the bottom wall of a container. If the particles sediment onto a feature less flat wall, the two bottom layers crystallize simultaneously and layerwise growth follows. If the wall is replaced by a hexagonal template, only layerwise growth occurs. Our results complement earlier numerical simulations and experiments on other colloidal systems.
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, 9 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: I B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Ramsteiner
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Weitz
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Spaepen