Monoenergetic positrons are widely used to study defects in near-surface regions and buried interfaces of solids. Depth information is usually obtained by varying the positron implantation energy. However, at energies larger than 10 keV the stopping profile becomes much broader than the positron diffusion length. The study shows that optimum depth resolution can be obtained by stepwise removal of the surface and measurement with the smallest possible positron implantation depth. The removal from the surface can be done by ion sputtering or chemical etching. Furthermore, excellent defect depth profiles can be obtained when a sample is wedge-shaped polished (wedge angle about 1degrees). A line scan using a scanning positron microbeam along the wedge with a small positron implantation depth gives then the defect profile with optimum depth resolution. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.