Fabrication of Colloidal Laves Phases via Hard Tetramers and Hard Spheres: Bulk Phase Diagram and Sedimentation Behavior

Laves phase-which can serve as a precursor of a photonic band-gap structure-is a thermodynamically stable phase in a large region of the phase diagram. Our findings show a relatively large coexistence region between the fluid and the Laves phase, which is potentially accessible by experiments. Furthermore, we determine the sedimentation behavior of the suggested mixture, by identifying several stacking sequences in the sediment. Our work uncovers a self-assembly path toward a photonic structure with a band gap in the visible region.