Magnetic and transport properties of UBi2 and USb2 single crystals

The thermoelectric power, S(T), of USb₂ and UBi₂, which are tetragonal, uniaxial antiferromagnets below T _N?=?202?K and 180.8?K, respectively, have been examined between 0.4?K and 300?K. The values of S(T), up to now known above 70?K for USb₂ and unknown for UBi₂, are positive along the a-axis for both compounds in the whole examined temperature range. The S(T) data for the c-axis (the easy magnetization axis) are positive near room temperature for USb₂ and UBi₂ but becomes negative below 120?K and 170?K, respectively, with two very deep minima in S(T) dependence for USb₂. In the latter compound the Fermi surface, known from literature, is composed of the only cylindrical sheets that are slightly corrugated and parallel to the c-axis. UBi₂, the Fermi surface of which is composed of one spherical and two cylindrical sheets, shows corresponding minima although less pronounced than those in USb₂. Having at disposal the highest purity single crystals in comparison to those for which the resistivity, ρ(T), has been reported in literature, the ρ(T) anisotropy was re-examined for these two systems. Magnon and phonon contributions to their total electrical resistivity have been determined and the critical fluctuation behaviour of the resistivity near T _N for both dipnictides has been analysed. Although the magnetic susceptibilities of UBi₂ and USb₂ reveal a similarity, their transport properties are significantly different due to the difference in the Fermi surface topology.