Fig. 4.

Experimental and simulated crystallization pathways for different crystal phases. (A–C) Experimental trajectories of the order parameter $\mathrm{\Phi }$ as a function of time, for mixing ratios $\alpha =0$ (A), $\alpha =0.3$ (B), and $\alpha =0.5$ (C). Snapshots show data of the same crystal at different time points. Blue regions correspond to square symmetry, while orange regions correspond to hexagonal symmetry. (D–F) Free-energy landscapes with respect to the crystal size $N_c$ and order parameter $\mathrm{\Phi }$. The white shaded region in each plot encloses 68% of the pathways from 200 independent, unbiased MC simulations. Images show snapshots from unbiased simulations at different crystal sizes $N_c$. The contours show the free energy in $k_{\text{B}}T$. Results correspond to different interaction matrices: $E_{\mathit{\text{AA}}}=E_{\mathit{\text{BB}}}=0,E_{\mathit{\text{AB}}}=7.0\hspace{0.17em}{k}_{\text{B}}T$ (D), $E_{\mathit{\text{AA}}}=0,E_{\mathit{\text{BB}}}=1.6\hspace{0.17em}{k}_{\text{B}}T,E_{\mathit{\text{AB}}}=7.0\hspace{0.17em}{k}_{\text{B}}T$ (E), and $E_{\mathit{\text{AA}}}=0,E_{\mathit{\text{BB}}}=3.5\hspace{0.17em}{k}_{\text{B}}T,E_{\mathit{\text{AB}}}=6.3\hspace{0.17em}{k}_{\text{B}}T$ (F).