Spatial Confinement in Colloidal Crystals: the HCP-like phase

The video starts by displaying a perspective view of two triangular layers of a colloidal crystal and then switches to an axonometric projection to illustrate the transition. The colloids combine to form microcrystallites that rotate in the same direction as the space between walls expands. This transitional phase is called the hcp-like phase and ultimately leads to a compact hcp phase, identified as (1 0 0) using three Miller indexes. To transition to the square phase, the microcrystallites undergo another selection and symmetric rotation. The video concludes by showing the compact square phase. It's worth noting that the triangular and square phases are facets of the fcc lattice, with Miller indexes (1 1 1) and (1 0 0), respectively. In this particular case, the triangular phase, being a bilayer, could also be part of the hcp phase.

Video/movie reproduced from Reproduced from Ref. Physical Review E 76, 050401 (2007) with permission from the American Physical Society
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