In this paper, we study self-dual codes over $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times (\mathbb{Z}_2+u\mathbb{Z}_2) $, where $u^2=0$. Three types of self-dual codes are defined. For each type, the possible values $α,β$ such that there exists a code $\mathcal{C}\subseteq \mathbb{Z}_{2}^α\times (\mathbb{Z}_2+u\mathbb{Z}_2)^β$ are established. We also present several approaches to construct self-dual codes over $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times (\mathbb{Z}_2+u\mathbb{Z}_2) $. Moreover, the structure of two-weight self-dual codes is completely obtained for $α\cdotβ\neq 0$.