Binary colloidal compounds with depletants

We study the effects of depletants on binary size-asymmetric colloidal crystals. Specifically, we discuss the mechanism that leads to two types of systems: 1) stable compound crystals of large repulsive particles with smaller particles; and 2) crystals of large repulsive particles stabilized by a mobile sublattice of small particles. This talk will address the impact of the presence of depletants in both the compounds and in the sublattice-melted crystals, as well as the relative significance of the attractive interaction between the particles and the depletion forces.