The electrical characteristics of boron‐diffusedP+Ndiodes containing electrically active stacking faults (EASF) are investigated. The method combines an analysis of theI‐Vcharacteristics of the diodes with information derived from a scanning‐electron‐beam technique, the electron‐beam‐induced current (EBIC) mode. Stacking faults (SF) measuring 1–2 &mgr;m in length nucleate and develop in the near‐surface region of the silicon slice during the initial oxidation process. Subsequent to the boron diffusion, the SF are heavily decorated with impurity precipitates. Excess reverse currents are measured at room temperature over a broad range of voltage from the very‐low‐voltage region whereVR< kT/qto the high‐voltage preavalanche region whereVR≫kT/q. Two distinct regions are observed in theI‐Vcharacteristics of all diodes containing EASF's. These regions are separated by an effective threshold voltageVTHE, which is characteristic of the EASF's in the particular diode. For typical diodes with a junction depthXj=0.4 &mgr;m, experimentally determined values forVTHEare in the range 0.1–10.0 V. When the applied reverse voltageVR< VTHEthe diode exhibits the two regions characteristic of silicon diodes at room temperature; a low‐field Ohmic conductance region whenVR< k T/qand a space‐charge‐generation region whenVR> k T/q, which is similiar to a modified form of SNS theory. In this region, the excess generation currents are found to correlate with the threshold voltage of the EASF's. WhenVR> VTHEa voltage power‐law dependence is observed whereIR&agr;Vn, n≈4.75±0.25. This carrier‐generation effect results from the interaction between the strain field and/or the impurity atmosphere surrounding the EASF and the depletion field of theP Njunction. The composite defect introduces a local high‐density zone of g‐r centers which reduce the effective lifetime of minority charge carriers in the region of the SF. The localized g‐r zones are typically 20 &mgr;m2in cross‐sectional area with an effective lifetime of 4 – 400 ps. They are distributed nonuniformly, and are the direct source of excessIRcurrents measured at room temperature.