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April 10, 2007 September 9, 2026

Layering transitions in confined colloidal crystals: The hcp-like phase - Notes

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F. Ramiro-Manzano, E. Bonet, I. Rodriguez and F. Meseguer

Phys. Rev. E Volume 76 050401(R) 2007

Published abstract

This paper investigates the sequence of morphological transitions in a nearly hard sphere arrangement confined in a wedge cell. A model that shows smooth transitions between the different particle orderings for a small range of confinement is proposed. The hcp-like phase appears as a general adaptive structure in the transitions between two and six layers.

Figures

Complete Figure 1 composition from the original article PDF, with all panels, axes and units
Figure 1. Summary. Reflectance spectra and SEM images for the transition between two and three layers.

From F. Ramiro-Manzano et al., Phys. Rev. E 76, 050401(R) (2007), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevE.76.050401. Reproduced under APS author rights.

Complete Figure 2 composition from the original article PDF, with all panels, axes and units
Figure 2. Summary. Filling fraction as a function of reduced cell thickness with ordering models showing the phase evolution.

From F. Ramiro-Manzano et al., Phys. Rev. E 76, 050401(R) (2007), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevE.76.050401. Reproduced under APS author rights.

Complete Figure 3 composition from the original article PDF, with all panels, axes and units
Figure 3. Summary. Reflectance spectra and SEM images for the transition between three and four layers.

From F. Ramiro-Manzano et al., Phys. Rev. E 76, 050401(R) (2007), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevE.76.050401. Reproduced under APS author rights.

SEM images of hcp-like colloidal crystal phases with four, five and six monolayers
Figure 4. Summary. SEM images of hcp-like phases with four, five and six monolayers.

From F. Ramiro-Manzano et al., Phys. Rev. E 76, 050401(R) (2007), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevE.76.050401. Reproduced under APS author rights.

How to cite

Article access and reuse

APS author rights permit authors to use all or part of an APS-published article, including APS-prepared figures, on the author's or employer's website without charging a fee. The four complete figures below were extracted from the local PDF at 300 dpi and are reproduced without modification.

Related publications

Connections within F. Ramiro-Manzano's publication record, selected from shared research topics and evidence reviewed in the source papers.

SEM micrographs of adaptive colloidal prism phases
Article
Phys. Rev. Lett. 109(21), 218301 (2012)
Packing Confined Hard Spheres Denser with Adaptive Prism Phases
E. C. Oğuz, M. Marechal, F. Ramiro-Manzano, I. Rodriguez, R. Messina, F. J. Meseguer and H. Löwen

What the related paper adds

This later paper extends the research direction developed in Layering transitions in confined colloidal crystals: The hcp-like phase. This paper revisits confined hard-sphere packing with optimization theory, real-space experiments and finite-pressure Monte Carlo simulations. It discovers adaptive prism phases whose internal rhombic or square geometry changes with slit height, tests which structures remain stable away from ideal close packing, and refines the earlier experimental transition sequences.

What this paper adds to the related work

This paper provides an earlier basis for the later development reported in Packing Confined Hard Spheres Denser with Adaptive Prism Phases. This paper identifies HCP-like ordering as an adaptable intermediate phase rather than a fixed crystal structure. It follows the continuous reorganization of films from two to six layers and explains the detailed two-to-three and three-to-four layer transitions through changes in row spacing, sublayer motion and microcrystal rotation.

Woodhead Publishing book chapter identification graphic
Book chapter
Thin Film Growth, 155-184 (2011)
Phase transitions in colloidal crystal thin films
F. Ramiro-Manzano, E. Bonet, I. Rodríguez and F. Meseguer

What the related paper adds

This later paper extends the research direction developed in Layering transitions in confined colloidal crystals: The hcp-like phase. This chapter provides the broad synthesis of the confined-colloid programme. It organizes the known and newly observed phases from one layer to thicker films, reconstructs their transition dynamics, distinguishes the well-resolved one-to-four-layer sequence from the richer four-to-eight-layer regime, and identifies the questions that remained open for theory and experiment.

What this paper adds to the related work

This paper provides an earlier basis for the later development reported in Phase transitions in colloidal crystal thin films. This paper identifies HCP-like ordering as an adaptable intermediate phase rather than a fixed crystal structure. It follows the continuous reorganization of films from two to six layers and explains the detailed two-to-three and three-to-four layer transitions through changes in row spacing, sublayer motion and microcrystal rotation.

Iridescent colloidal crystal thin-film sample, panel (a) of Figure 7
Journal article
Eur. J. Phys. 32(2), 505-515 (2011)
Fabrication and characterization of colloidal crystal thin films
I. Rodríguez, F. Ramiro-Manzano, F. Meseguer and E. Bonet

What the related paper adds

This later paper extends the research direction developed in Layering transitions in confined colloidal crystals: The hcp-like phase. This article turns the wedge-cell research platform into an accessible laboratory experiment. It explains how to grow the films, recognize triangular, square and HCP facets, determine layer number from top and cross-sectional electron micrographs, and use three-dimensional models to make the crystallographic transitions understandable to students and newcomers.

What this paper adds to the related work

This paper provides an earlier basis for the later development reported in Fabrication and characterization of colloidal crystal thin films. This paper identifies HCP-like ordering as an adaptable intermediate phase rather than a fixed crystal structure. It follows the continuous reorganization of films from two to six layers and explains the detailed two-to-three and three-to-four layer transitions through changes in row spacing, sublayer motion and microcrystal rotation.

Figure 3. SEM images and side and top views of particle-ordering models as the cell thickness increases.
Journal article
Langmuir 26(7), 4559-4562 (2010)
Colloidal Crystal Thin Films Grown into Corrugated Surface Templates
F. Ramiro-Manzano, E. Bonet, I. Rodriguez and F. Meseguer

What the related paper adds

This later paper extends the research direction developed in Layering transitions in confined colloidal crystals: The hcp-like phase. This paper adds a deliberately patterned boundary to the wedge-cell problem by using inexpensive CD and DVD grooves. It shows that groove width, pitch, particle size and cell thickness can cooperate to create one-dimensional decorations, zigzag strips and extended two-dimensional domains, turning confinement into a practical route for directing self-assembly.

What this paper adds to the related work

This paper provides an earlier basis for the later development reported in Colloidal Crystal Thin Films Grown into Corrugated Surface Templates. This paper identifies HCP-like ordering as an adaptable intermediate phase rather than a fixed crystal structure. It follows the continuous reorganization of films from two to six layers and explains the detailed two-to-three and three-to-four layer transitions through changes in row spacing, sublayer motion and microcrystal rotation.

Featured image for Layering transitions in colloidal crystal thin films between 1 and 4 monolayers
Journal article
Soft Matter 5(21), 4279-4282 (2009)
Layering transitions in colloidal crystal thin films between 1 and 4 monolayers
F. Ramiro-Manzano, E. Bonet, I. Rodriguez and F. Meseguer

What the related paper adds

This later paper extends the research direction developed in Layering transitions in confined colloidal crystals: The hcp-like phase. This study assembles the complete experimental transition landscape between one and four monolayers. It clarifies the role of HCP(100)-like and pre-square arrangements, introduces HCP(011) as a compact route between square and triangular order, and connects the observed phases through their filling fraction and continuous particle motion.

What this paper adds to the related work

This paper provides an earlier basis for the later development reported in Layering transitions in colloidal crystal thin films between 1 and 4 monolayers. This paper identifies HCP-like ordering as an adaptable intermediate phase rather than a fixed crystal structure. It follows the continuous reorganization of films from two to six layers and explains the detailed two-to-three and three-to-four layer transitions through changes in row spacing, sublayer motion and microcrystal rotation.

Composite SEM figure comparing colloidal crystal wire arrangements for confinement ratios D from 1.3 to 2.9 with corresponding sphere-packing models
Article
Adv. Mater. 20(12), 2315-2318 (2008)
Colloidal Crystal Wires
M. Tymczenko, L. F. Marsal, T. Trifonov, I. Rodriguez, F. Ramiro-Manzano, J. Pallares, A. Rodriguez, R. Alcubilla and F. Meseguer

What the related paper adds

This later paper extends the research direction developed in Layering transitions in confined colloidal crystals: The hcp-like phase. This work moves colloidal confinement from a planar slit into cylindrical silicon pores. By varying the pore-to-particle ratio, it produces free-standing colloidal wires with zigzag, double-string, prismatic, helical and hollow-core arrangements, while showing that wall affinity and electrostatic repulsion reshape the hard-sphere packing picture.

What this paper adds to the related work

This paper provides an earlier basis for the later development reported in Colloidal Crystal Wires. This paper identifies HCP-like ordering as an adaptable intermediate phase rather than a fixed crystal structure. It follows the continuous reorganization of films from two to six layers and explains the detailed two-to-three and three-to-four layer transitions through changes in row spacing, sublayer motion and microcrystal rotation.

Scanning electron micrograph of a faceted colloidal crystal thin film, detail from Figure 4
Journal article
Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 028304 (2006)
Faceting and Commensurability in Crystal Structures of Colloidal Thin Films
F. Ramiro-Manzano, F. Meseguer, E. Bonet and I. Rodriguez

What the related paper adds

This earlier paper establishes a scientific basis for Layering transitions in confined colloidal crystals: The hcp-like phase. This study establishes how commensurability governs faceting in wedge-confined colloidal films. Optical spectra and electron microscopy reveal large FCC and HCP-oriented domains, including the vertical HCP(100) facet, and show how stacking faults and vicinal structures bridge thicknesses that do not fit a simple high-symmetry stacking.

What this paper adds to the related work

Building on the earlier contribution Faceting and Commensurability in Crystal Structures of Colloidal Thin Films, this paper advances the research line. This paper identifies HCP-like ordering as an adaptable intermediate phase rather than a fixed crystal structure. It follows the continuous reorganization of films from two to six layers and explains the detailed two-to-three and three-to-four layer transitions through changes in row spacing, sublayer motion and microcrystal rotation.

Research fields

Bottom-up

Spheres confined in a wedge cell assemble into layer-dependent colloidal crystals as the plate separation changes. Between conventional triangular and square packings they form an hcp-like arrangement that continuously adapts its distortion to the available gap.

Simulations & fits

Filling-fraction calculations model buckling and hcp(100) order as limiting cases of one continuous family. This provides a geometrical pathway through the transition and predicts where each intermediate arrangement should be stable.

Characterization

Position-resolved infrared reflectance and SEM imaging follow the same thickness gradient. Spectral discontinuities locate phase boundaries, while surface and edge micrographs identify the particle stacking responsible for each optical change.

RESEARCH TOPICS

MaterialsThe paper identifies an hcp-like family that connects the usual buckled, rhombic and HCP(100) arrangements through smooth changes in interlayer spacing rather than abrupt replacement of one ideal lattice by another. The result explains how finite crystals remain commensurate with confinement without requiring discontinuous density jumps at every transition.
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