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We have observed a two-stage melting transition in a two-dimensional (2D) colloidal suspension of highly charged, submicron-sized spheres in water using optical microscopy and digital imaging. Our system is confined between two flat glass plates, has a lateral extent of at least 1000 spheres, and has equilibrated for over 10^5 time steps. Direct observation of topological defects and computed correlation functions from real-space images gives insight into the nature of the 2D melting process.
Murray et al. (Mon,) studied this question.