text: Equilibrium phase transitions (e.g. order/disorder), an equation of state, and the kinetics of colloidal crystallization have all been actively studied, leading to the development of several methods to control the self-assembly of the colloidal particles. Examples include colloidal epitaxy and space-based reduced-gravity techniques, as well as the use of temperature gradients to define a density gradient. This is somewhat counterintuitive as temperature does not play a role in determining the hard-sphere phase diagram. However, hard-sphere single crystals (size 3 mm) have been obtained from a sample in a concentration regime that would remain in the liquid state in the absence of a temperature gradient.