THE STABILITY OF THE AB13 CRYSTAL IN A BINARY HARD-SPHERE SYSTEM

A numerical study of the stability of the AB13 crystal structure in a mixture of dissimilar hard spheres is reported. This crystal structure has recently been observed by Bartlett and coworkers in experiments o n suspensions of colloidal hard-sphere mixtures. We find that, over a range of densities and diameter ratios, the AB13 phase is thermodynami cally stable both with respect to the fluid mixture and the crystal st ructures of pure A and pure B. A tentative phase diagram is presented.