electronic work function

electronic work function, energy (or work) required to withdraw an electron completely from a metal surface. This energy is a measure of how tightly a particular metal holds its electrons—that is, of how much lower the electron’s energy is when present within the metal than when completely free. The work function is important in applications involving electron emission from metals, as in photoelectric devices and cathode-ray tubes.

The value of the work function for a particular material varies slightly depending upon the process of emission. For example, the energy required to boil an electron out of a heated platinum filament (thermionic work function) differs slightly from that required to eject an electron from platinum that is struck by light (photoelectric work function). Typical values for metals range from two to five electron volts.

When metals of different work functions are joined, electrons tend to leave the metal with the lower work function (where they are less tightly bound) and travel to the metal of higher work function. This effect must be considered whenever connections are made between dissimilar metals in certain electronic circuits.

Because some electrons in a material are held more tightly than others, a precise definition of work function specifies which electrons are involved, usually those most loosely bound.