Today's information-oriented society requires high-density, high-quality magnetic recording media. For the development of such new recording materials, the quantitative observation of magnetic fine structures by electron holography is eagerly awaited. However, the magnetic fields around particles smaller than 50 nm have not been observed because they are too weak to be observed in the usual way. Here, we report a highly precise phase measurement technique, improved phase-shifting electron holography. Using this method, we observed weak electric and magnetic fields precisely. The precision of the reconstructed phase image was as good as 2π/300 rad.

In phase-shifting electron holography, the phase images are reconstructed from a series of electron holograms whose interference fringes are shifted relative to one after another. The shifting of interference fringes is achieved by tilting the incident electron beam, which corresponds to shifting the initial phase of the incident electron waves in a specimen plane.