Possibility of Gravitational Tempering in Colloidal Epitaxy to Obtain a Perfect Crystal

Abstract

We have performed Monte Carlo simulations of hard spheres on a pattern under gravity. We have found that a crystal formed at a moderate gravity strength contains essentially no defects while one formed at a higher strength gravity contains a significant amount of defects. This result suggests the possibility of using gravitational-tempering in a colloidal epitaxy to reduce the number of defects in colloidal crystals. Moreover, we wish to emphasize the possibility to obtain a perfect crystal.