The chemical potential and the work function of a metal film on a dielectric substrate

ABSTRACT

The chemical potential and the work function of an aluminium metal film which is in the vacuum (1) and on a dielectric substrate (2) are obtained using the model of non-interacting electrons confined by an asymmetric rectangular potential well. For the first time, these two characteristics are calculated with correct taking into account the electroneutrality condition. As a result, the values of the chemical potential and the work function tend to their bulk values upon increasing the film thickness. The presence of a dielectric substrate leads to a small shift in the values of these characteristics.

KEYWORDS:

• Quantum size effect
• metal film
• chemical potential
• work function
• dielectric substrate
• jellium model

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Editor and anonymous Referee for careful reading of the manuscript and useful suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.