Journal
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
Volume 113, Issue 12, Pages -Publisher
AMER PHYSICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.127801
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Funding
- Consejera de Economia, Innovacion y Ciencia (Junta de Andalucia)
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion [P09-FQM-4938]
- FEDER [MAT2011-28385]
- German Research Foundation (DFG) [KE 1168/8-1]
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We report the specific heat c(N) around the melting transition(s) of micrometer-sized superparamagnetic particles confined in two dimensions, calculated from fluctuations of positions and internal energy, and corresponding Monte Carlo simulations. Since colloidal systems provide single particle resolution, they offer the unique possibility to compare the experimental temperatures of the peak position of c(N)(T) and symmetry breaking, respectively. While order parameter correlation functions confirm the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Halperin-Nelson-Young melting scenario where translational and orientational order symmetries are broken at different temperatures with an intermediate so called hexatic phase, we observe a single peak of the specific heat within the hexatic phase, with excellent agreement between experiment and simulation. Thus, the peak is not associated with broken symmetries but can be explained with the total defect density, which correlates with the maximum increase of isolated dislocations. The absence of a latent heat strongly supports the continuous character of both transitions.
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