Neutron‐Diffraction Study of Antiferromagnetism in USb₂ and UBi₂

Abstract

Abstract The magnetic ordering in polycrystalline USb 2 and UBi 2 is studied by means of neutron diffraction. It is found, that the magnetic unit cell of USb 2 is twice the size of the chemical cell along the c ‐axis, with alternating ferromagnetic sheets in the sequence + − − + …︁. In the case of UBi 2 the magnetic and chemical unit cells are identical. The sequence of ferromagnetic sheets is + − + − …︁ in the direction of the c ‐axis. In both cases magnetic moments are parallel to the c ‐axis and their magnitudes are (0.94 ± 0.03) BM for USb 2 and (2.1 ± 0.1) BM for UBi 2 .