Scientists tweak metals at atomic level to tune electronic properties precisely

A University of Minnesota-led team showed that nanoscale interface engineering can tune a metal’s electronic properties, including its work function, by more than 1 eV.

By changing the thickness of ruthenium dioxide films, the researchers altered polarization at material interfaces and shifted surface behavior.

The finding challenges the long-held view that metals are electronically rigid and composition is the only way to modify them.

The work opens new paths for designing materials for semiconductors, catalysts, clean energy, and quantum technologies.