Crossover behavior of the localized to itinerant transition of 5f electrons in the antiferromagnetic Kondo lattice USb2

In uranium-based heavy fermion systems, the 5f electrons display an intermediate character between partial localization and partial itinerancy, which makes the Kondo problem more complicated. Here we use scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy to investigate the (001) surface of the Kondo lattice antiferromagnet USb2. Temperature-dependent dI/dV spectra from 4.7 K up to 140 K reveal several peak structures around the Fermi level. Two pronounced peaks originate from the hybridization between the conduction and 5f electrons. We did not observe the mysteriously abrupt change of the electronic state at 45 K, which was previously reported by another scanning tunneling microscopy group and attributed to a novel first-order-like transition. Instead, we only observe continuous evolution of the dI/dV spectra with temperature. Furthermore, in some scanning regions, we find significant Sb atoms missing from the top layer, which gives us the opportunity to investigate the electronic structure of the U-terminated surface. For the U-terminated surface, an additional sharp peak emerges, which is closely related to the magnetic order.