Melting of a two-dimensional electron lattice

Abstract

Melting of a two-dimensional electron lattice is studied using the molecular-dynamics technique. It is found that the system undergoes a first-order phase transition between $\Gamma [=\frac{e^2{\left(\pi n\right)}^{\frac{1}{2}}}{{\kappa }_{B}T}]=118-130\mathrm{}$. The system exhibits hysteresis in the temperature dependence of total energy and the coefficient of self-diffusion. The change in entropy on melting is found to be $0.3{\kappa }_B$ per particle.