Mapping of microelectrostatic fields by means of electron holography: Theoretical and experimental results

Abstract

The electrostatic field generated by a charged dielectric sphere on a conducting half plane has been investigated both experimentally and theoretically by means of electron holography in a transmission electron microscope. By this technique it is possible to obtain, on the reconstructed image, two-dimensional representations of the in-plane projected potential distribution around the charged sphere. We will show how this example, dealt with in the linear system theory, gives the key to the interpretation of more general plane distributions of potential, for instance, that generated by the reverse-biased p-n junctions.