Oxidation-resistant metallic films: Surface engineering at the angstrom scale

Oxidation-resistant metallic films are of fundamental and practical interest in diverse applications, such as classical and quantum electronics. In a recent paper in Nature, Kim et al. report Cu (111) surfaces which do not oxidize over year timescales owing to their atomic flatness with predominantly mono-atomic steps. This finding highlights how novel functionality of future devices may be achieved through manufacturing with precision at the atomic scale.