Bragg-microscopic experiments on solidifying colloidal melts

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Due to the colloid specific length scales the size, form and distribution of colloidal crystals can conveniently be studied using a combination of light scattering and microscopy. Further nucleation, growth and ripening in systems of colloidal shear melts are accessible by performing time resolved experiments. The contrast mechanism is given by the difference in Si(q) the static structure factor of different phases i under a given observation direction. We report several experimental realisations and give representative examples with a particular focus on the crystallisation kinetics.