The minimum work needed to extract electrons from the
Fermi level of a metal M across a surface carrying no net charge. It is equal to the sum of the potential energy and the kinetic
Fermi energy taken with the reverse sign:
whera
is the potential energy for electrons in metals
and
is the
kinetic energy of electrons at the
Fermi level.
Source:
PAC, 1986, 58, 437
(Interphases in systems of conducting phases (Recommendations 1985))
on page 441
