Intentional self-assembly of nonequilibrium structures: when can kinetic trapping be useful?*

The aim of molecular self-assembly in the laboratory is usually to make an equilibrium structure rather than a nonequilibrium one, in part because many nonequilibrium structures are disordered and not useful. In this talk I will use theory and simulation to argue that it is possible to make nonequilibrium colloidal structures that have a high degree of order and are potentially useful. The structures in question are two-component crystals whose component types are intermingled in way that resembles the spins of a ferromagnet at a critical point. I will describe possible experimental realizations of these materials.