A method for fabricating an implantable medical electrode includes roughening the electrode substrate, applying an adhesion layer, and depositing a valve metal oxide coating over the adhesion layer under conditions optimized to minimize electrode impedance and post-pulse polarization. The electrode substrate may be a variety of electrode metals or alloys including titanium, platinum, platinum-iridium, or niobium. The adhesion layer may be formed of titanium or zirconium. The valve metal oxide coating is a ruthenium oxide coating sputtered onto the adhesion layer under controlled target power, sputtering pressure, and sputter gas ratio setting optimized to minimize electrode impedance and post-pulse polarization.