@article {155596, title = {Experimental observation of the crystallization of hard-sphere colloidal particles by sedimentation onto flat and patterned surfaces}, journal = {Physical Review E}, volume = {79}, number = {1}, year = {2009}, pages = {011403}, abstract = {We present a confocal microscopy study of 1.55 mu m 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.}, url = {https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.79.011403}, author = {Ramsteiner, I. B. and Jensen, K. E. and Weitz, D. A. and F. Spaepen} }