Age old antipodes united: stable \emph{and} low-work-function surfaces are generic

Both a low work function and a stable surface are crucial for the application of cathodes in \emph{e.g.} microwave ovens, organic photoconductors and displays as CRTs and OLEDs. Until recently they were considered antipodes. In previous work[1] we showed a stable low-work-function surface to be realised for the compound BaAl$_4$ and even predicted that stable, low-work-function surfaces would be generic for metals with polar surfaces. Now, \emph{ab initio} calculations confirm the prediction for the compounds CaAl$_4$, BaAuIn$_3$ and LaB$_6$.\newline \newline [1] M.A.~Uijttewaal, G.A.~de~Wijs, R.A.~de~Groot, R.~Coehoorn, V.~van~Elsbergen, and C.~H.~L.~Weijtens, \emph{Chem. Mater.} \textbf{17}, 3879 (2005)