Depletion-driven self-assembly in binary colloidal mixtures is studied via the time evolution of the cluster-size distribution and structure factor as the mixtures equilibrate after shear melting. The data suggest a two-stage crystallization process governed by an initial collapse into an amorphous metastable state, the growth kinetics of which are interpreted within the context of reversible aggregation and early-stage phase separation.

• Received 21 May 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.3996