From sample to report: a built-in electronic lab notebook
Mikrofab Suite ships with a sample-centric electronic lab notebook (ELN) embedded directly inside the measurement software. When you fabricate a material or device, you record its identity, fabrication steps and process history card by card, link your measurements to the sample, and turn it all into a traceable report with a single click. Fabrication history and electrical results are no longer scattered across separate files; they come together in one sample record.
Lab Notebook data is kept in a separate SQLite database (journal.db) within the user-data folder, and talks to the measurement database through a sample-identity bridge: a sample's user-facing identifier (sample_id) corresponds to the tft_id field of measurements taken from that sample. This way, a wafer's fabrication steps and the dozens of measurements taken on that wafer meet in a single context.
From sample identity to audit trail
The Lab Notebook brings the daily needs of an R&D / fabrication notebook together in one place: define the sample, record its process step by step, link the measurement, report, and make every change traceable.
Sample identity
A rich identity for every sample: ID, title, status, operator, facility, batch/lot, parent wafer; substrate material/size/orientation, active material; environment (temperature, relative humidity, cleanroom class) and tags. The sample identifier is unique (UNIQUE); a second sample with the same ID cannot be created.
Process-step cards
Fabrication and characterization are each a card: cleaning, thin film, lithography, etching, annealing, temperature profile, measurement, note — plus R&D extensions such as objective, BOM, equipment, XRD, microscopy, spectroscopy, safety, protocol and sign-off. A total of 30 card types are added from a drag-and-drop gallery and ordered by ordinal.
Measurement bridge
A measurement card links to an actual record in the measurement database via linked_measurement_id. The sample's process history and electrical results (Vth, µFE, Ion/Ioff, Jsc/Voc/FF…) come together in one place; you reach the raw curve straight from the sample.
One-click HTML / PDF report
Every sample turns into a formatted HTML report that opens with a single click: identity + process steps + linked measurement metrics. Open it in a browser, print it, or export it to PDF from the print dialog and share it by email — no extra tools required.
Traceability and audit trail
Every create, update, delete and restore is written to the audit trail (audit_log): who (actor), why (reason) and a full snapshot before the change (before_json). Deletion is soft (deleted_at) — the data stays; an automatic backup is taken before migration.
JSON export
The data philosophy is "summary database + raw file": sample and step records, together with the integrity-sealed report JSON, can be exported, while raw measurement series remain on the file system as CSV / TXT / XLSX / HDF5 / JSON. No data is ever locked into a single format.
A closer look at the example notebooks
Mikrofab Suite comes with 10 fully populated Lab Notebook samples, built to be shown to customers. Below are six example samples as they appear inside the application; each represents a different card family and workspace.
Each one a different workspace — and its original report
All 10 example samples ship with the product; the original one-click HTML report for each is included in the package as well. You can open the relevant report directly from the cards below.
IGZO-TFT fabrication
An a-IGZO thin-film transistor on glass (bottom-gate, top-contact). The full fabrication flow from cleaning to transfer measurement; Vth, µFE, SS and Ion/Ioff results are linked to the sample.
Open original reportMemristor DOE planning
A project-planning notebook for an HfOx memristor material screen: objective, bill of materials (BOM), equipment, timeline and design-of-experiments (DOE) cards.
Open original reportPhotodetector analysis
Transient-response (rise/fall time) and spectral-responsivity analysis of an a-Si:H photodetector; photo/dark current ratio and bandwidth captured in the sample record.
Open original reportTFT measurement campaign
A transfer/output measurement campaign on a 5-channel common-gate OFET array: multiple devices, repeated measurements and device-to-device statistical comparison.
Open original reportPerovskite solar cell
An n-i-p perovskite solar cell (PSC): a light J–V, hysteresis and stability notebook. Jsc, Voc, FF and PCE results are linked to the process steps.
Open original reportRRAM endurance
Resistive switching (SET/RESET) and endurance cycles in a TiN/HfOx/Ti/Pt memristor; HRS/LRS window tracking in the sample notebook.
Open original reportPZT piezoelectric
Resonant piezoelectric spectroscopy (RPS/RUS) on a PZT-5H disc: resonance modes, elastic modulus and d33-derived quantities in a single notebook.
Open original reportMOS capacitor C–V
C–V profiling and Mott-Schottky analysis for an Al2O3 MOS capacitor: effective doping, built-in voltage Vbi and interface trap density Dit.
Open original reportCalibration (ISO 17025)
An SMU calibration and laboratory compliance notebook: ISO/IEC 17025 traceability, reference standards, control charts and sign-off steps.
Open original reportZnO thin-film characterization
Structural and morphological characterization of a sol-gel ZnO thin film: XRD, SEM and Raman steps documented in a single sample notebook.
Open original reportA formatted, one-click shareable report
Every sample turns into a formatted HTML report that brings together its identity, process steps and linked measurement metrics. Below are the actual report outputs of five example samples; all of them open in a browser, print, or export to PDF.
A solid foundation for an accredited laboratory
The Lab Notebook shares the same data standard as the measurement and analysis databases: single-gateway data access, append-only + soft-delete, a full audit trail and an automatic pre-migration backup. This pattern provides a ready-made backbone for laboratory setups that require traceability.
audit_log) together with who (actor) and why (reason), preserving a full snapshot before the change (before_json). Soft deletion (deleted_at) protects the data, and an automatic backup is taken before permanent deletion — record integrity and traceability meet the expectations of accreditation processes.R&D and manufacturing
- Document the full wafer/lot lifecycle with identity + process-step cards.
- Link fabrication history to electrical results through the measurement bridge.
- Turn a sample into a formatted report with one click and share it with stakeholders.
- Support an ISO 17025 / GLP setup with the audit trail and backups.
Teaching and research
- Record student measurements and sample-preparation steps.
- Demonstrate ELN use in the classroom with 10 ready-made example notebooks.
- Keep a traceable, exportable record for theses and papers.
- Bring XRD, microscopy and spectroscopy steps together in a single sample.
Explore the Lab Notebook in the manual
The data architecture, the sample and step tables, the measurement bridge, the audit trail and how the example notebooks are reproduced are explained step by step in the data section of the manual.
Data, Database, Lab Notebook, Recipe and Script
The two tables of the sample-centric ELN (samples + sample_steps), the unified sample identity, the card gallery and step types, the measurement bridge and the full backup/integrity section.
Reporting and Export
The structure of one-click HTML/PDF reports, the integrity-sealed report JSON and all of the CSV / TXT / XLSX / HDF5 export formats.
Open the Reporting sectionTry the Lab Notebook with your own samples
Explore the 10 ready-made example notebooks, record your own samples card by card, and turn them into a traceable report with a single click. Whether or not you have hardware — you can try it end to end in simulation mode.