Link to Pubmed [PMID] – 18352237
Phys. Rev. Lett. 2008 Mar;100(10):108302
We study the conditions under which and how an imposed cluster of fixed colloidal particles at prescribed positions triggers crystal nucleation from a metastable colloidal fluid. Dynamical density functional theory of freezing and Brownian dynamics simulations are applied to a two-dimensional colloidal system with dipolar interactions. The externally imposed nucleation clusters involve colloidal particles either on a rhombic lattice or along two linear arrays separated by a gap. Crystal growth occurs after the peaks of the nucleation cluster have first relaxed to a cutout of the stable bulk crystal.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18352237