Work function of chemical compounds of aluminum-magnesium system

Abstract For pure metals aluminum and magnesium and for chemical compounds Al₃Mg, Al₂Mg, AlMg and AlMg₃ with crystallographic orientations (100), (110) and (111) the work function is calculated from the first principles in the framework of the density functional theory. It is shown that the dependence of the work function on the magnesium concentration in aluminium is nonlinear. The reasons for the work function differences of chemical compounds depending on the crystallographic orientation are analysed