Are there intermediate phases between the Wigner crystal and Fermi liquid?

Spivak and Kivelson (2004) argued that a direct first-order transition is forbidden in 2D with $1/r$ interactions, which implies intermediate microemulsion phases (bubbles, stripes) in a window of $r_s$ near $r_s$_c. Determine whether these phases exist in clean 2D jellium and in gated devices where the interaction is screened beyond the gate distance d, their width in $r_s$, and their observable signatures (transport anisotropy, compressibility, local density images).

Equilibrium imaging (scanning tunneling or optical) of mesoscale crystal and liquid domains in a clean $2\mathrm{D}$ system as density is swept through r_s_c, with disorder shown to be too weak to pin them.