Microscopic mechanism for the unusual antiferromagnetic order and the pressure-induced transition to ferromagnetism in USb$_2$

Abstract

Uranium dipnictide USb$_2$ reflects enigmatic properties posing a substantial challenge for a microscopic modeling. Among others, it develops a nonstandard antiferromagnetic order of a $\uparrow\downarrow\downarrow\uparrow$-type along [001] crystallographic direction, and under pressure it undergoes transition to the ferromagnetic phase. Here we propose a minimal low-energy model of USb$_2$ which, as we demonstrate at the mean-field level, accommodates physical mechanism for mentioned observations. Relying on the obtained results we also comment on the features of magnetism observed in other U-based compounds: UAs$_2$, UBi$_2$, UAsSe, URh$_x$Ir$_{1-x}$Ge and UGe$_2$.