Figure 5.

Computer simulations. (a) Cross-section (through the center) of the SP at different times (t/τ_MD) in a slowly shrinking spherical confinement. The crystallization proceeds through homogeneous nucleation of multiple crystal nuclei, which merge together at long simulation times to form a single crystalline domain. Colors are assigned randomly to distinct different nuclei in every time snapshot (cyan always denotes disordered particles). (b) Number of crystalline particles as a function of volume fraction for attractive NCs and hard-sphere NCs in a shrinking spherical confinement. The onset of the crystallization for attractive NCs is at a much lower volume fraction (η ≈ 0.11) than for hard-sphere NCs (η ≈ 0.5). The thumbnails show a cross-section of the attractive and hard-sphere NC SPs after crystallization has set in, thereby demonstrating that the crystallization of attractive NCs occurs via homogeneous nucleation, while it proceeds through heterogeneous nucleation for hard-sphere NCs. (c) Size of the largest cluster and the number of differently oriented clusters as a function of volume fraction (time). Eventually there is only one main crystalline domain.