The advantages in the use of high‐voltage electron microscopy in the observation of reverse‐biased p–n junctions are considered. Some theoretical results concerning the influence on the Fresnel image of the electric field inside the junction and of the external leakage field are presented for different values of the accelerating voltage. Preliminary experimental results obtained with a Hitachi microscope at the operating voltages ranging between 400 and 1000 kV are shown and compared with theoretical predictions. They indicate that the high voltage electron microscope may be a useful tool in investigating the internal electric field associated to the depletion layer of reverse‐biased p–n junctions. The working conditions are reported and discussed.

. 2014 Reverse-biased p-n junctions have been observed by means of electron holography using a transmission electron microscope equipped with an electron biprism and a field emission gun. Aim of this work is to present and discuss an analytical model for the electric field associated to a periodic array of alternating p and n stripes lying in a half-plane which simulates the experimental setup and allows the interpretation of the main features of the observed holograms and the quantitative evaluation of the effect of the fringing field on the holograms and on the reconstructed images. Microsc. Microanal. Microstruct. 6 (1995) Classification Physics Abstracts

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