Fig. 5: Crystal structure and Brillouin zone of UTe₂.

a Elementary unit cell and identification of the four smallest U-U distances, b projection of the lattice structure in the (b, c) plane, c crystal structure extended to several unit cells emphasizing the network of two-leg ladders, and d Brillouin zone of UTe₂. The vector n normal to a family of reticular (and cleaving) planes of Miller indices (0 1 1), with an angle θ = (b, n) = 23.7°, is indicated. These reticular planes are characteristic of the ladder structure. In reciprocal space, the corresponding wavevector k = (0 1 1), expressed in relative lattice units, is perpendicular to two planes of the Brillouin zone boundary.