Determination of mean inner potential of germanium using off-axis electron holography

Off-axis electron holography has been used to determine the mean inner potential of germanium using cleaved 90 degrees wedge samples, where the wedge thickness profiles were checked by weak-beam dark-field extinction fringes. Dynamical contributions to the phase of the image were minimized by tilting to weakly diffracting conditions, as confirmed by reference to convergent-beam electron diffraction patterns. Small residual corrections were determined using multislice calculations. From a total of 18 separate measurements, it is concluded that the value of the mean inner potential is 14.3 (2) V, which agrees with recent theoretical calculations to within experimental error.