Introduction, Installation and Interface

This chapter is intended for users taking their first steps with the Mikrofab semiconductor / thin-film transistor (TFT) / photovoltaic (PV) measurement and analysis software. It provides a complete account of what the software is, who it is designed for, the system requirements, every step from installation through first launch, the licensing and update flow, and the overall architecture of the interface (the "shell"). Before the later chapters drill down into the individual measurement, analysis and calculation modules one by one, the goal here is for you to see the whole picture.

1. What Is the Software, and Who Is It For?

The Mikrofab measurement software is a standalone Windows desktop application that performs the electrical characterization of semiconductor/TFT/FET, photodetector, photovoltaic cell and related thin-film devices using multi-vendor Source-Measure Units (SMU). The software has two main axes of operation:

1. Measure: Produces data directly from a connected instrument (or from the built-in simulation engine). It covers techniques such as the transfer curve, output (IV) curve, diode/Schottky characterization, four-point/van der Pauw resistance, pulsed IV, bias-stress/transient, hardware-triggered sweep, PV J-V, and recipe-based automatic sequencing.
2. Analyze: Extracts physical metrics from a data file you load (a pure core independent of Qt, app/analysis/). It requires no instrument; from a raw CSV/measurement file it computes quantities such as time response, PV metrics and photodetector parameters.

In addition, the Calc workspace lets you perform measurement-independent engineering calculations (for example van der Pauw sheet resistance) through a form; the Control workspace lets you drive a source with a timed ramp/step or temperature profile; the Journal/ELN (Lab Notebook) keeps sample-centric records; and Data and Reports archives, compares and generates customer-grade reports from all results.

Target audience:

2. Versions, Editions and Operating Modes

The software is distributed as a single application; the "edition" difference arises through the license and the user mode:

• Simulation Mode (Mock Mode) is on by default (mock_mode: true). In this mode the software starts without needing a real instrument, produces fake but consistent Ids/Igs data, plots graphs and saves to file.
• Headless (no GUI) operation: a measurement sequence can be run without the GUI via python main.py --headless --job <file>; in addition, automation/remote control is possible through a local REST API server (--serve 8765).

3. System Requirements

4. Installation

4.1 Using the installer — the recommended path

For end users the easiest path is the ready-made NSIS 3-based installer. This file includes the license text in both English and Turkish and packages Python and all dependencies.

1. Download the most recent Mikrofab-Suite-<version>.exe installer from download.mikrofab.com.
2. Double-click the file and follow the setup wizard (accept the license agreement, choose the installation folder).
3. When installation finishes, launch TFT Measurement App from the Start menu or the desktop shortcut.

4.2 Running from source — developer/advanced user

For developers and custom installations the software can be run directly from source (Windows PowerShell):

py -3.13 -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements.txt
python main.py

On first launch Simulation Mode is on; the application runs without hardware. For unit tests, run python -m pytest after pip install -r requirements-dev.txt.

5. First-Launch Flow

On first launch the following happen in order:

1. The version banner is printed to the terminal (TFT Measurement App v5.85.0).
2. The splash screen appears. The lower-left shows the version (vX.Y.Z) and the abbreviated machine ID (ID: MF-...), the lower-right shows the suite.mikrofab.com and mikrofab.com addresses, and the center shows progress text (Starting…, Loading interface…).
3. The configuration is read, the language is set, and the embedded fonts (Inter / JetBrains Mono / Geist) are loaded.
4. The main window is built and brought to the front (on Windows it is briefly made TOPMOST to overcome the foreground lock).
5. About 1.2 seconds after launch (if this is the first run), the privacy/telemetry consent screen (onboarding) is shown — see §6.

6. Onboarding and Privacy Consent (Telemetry)

On first launch (or when the consent schema is updated) a granular consent dialog opens. Until a decision is made on this screen, telemetry is off.

Consent categories:

Three buttons are offered:

• Accept All — checks all boxes and saves (the default/recommended button).
• Save My Choice — saves the selection you made in the boxes.
• None For Now — turns off all categories.

7. License Activation and Machine ID

The software requires a license for measurement with a real instrument; Simulation Mode, analysis and calculation work even without a license. License verification is performed offline: the license key is signed on the server with a secret Ed25519 private key, and the client verifies the signature only with the public key embedded in the software. The private key is never present on the client.

7.1 Machine ID

A stable identifier unique to each computer is generated:

Raw source  ->  strip + lower  ->  SHA-256  ->  first 12 hex digits
result format:  MF-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

• Input (Windows): The MachineGuid in the registry (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Cryptography).
• Input (Linux): /etc/machine-id or /var/lib/dbus/machine-id; if absent, platform.node().
• Output: MF-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX (for example MF-1A2B-3C4D-5E6F).
• Stability: Does not change across sessions and installations; uses only the standard library and never throws an error.

The first 8 digits of the ID are displayed on the splash screen, and the full ID is shown under Settings → Account & License with a "Copy" button.

7.2 Activation steps

1. When you connect to a real instrument and your trial allowance (5 measurements) is exhausted, or manually from Settings, the License Activation dialog opens.
2. Copy the Machine ID from the dialog and send it to the developer/vendor.
3. Receive your unique long License Key (in the PAYLOAD.SIGNATURE format) and paste it into the box.
4. Press Activate. If the key belongs to this machine and this application (app_id = tft-measurement), is not expired and has a valid signature, the license is accepted and saved permanently.

The license file is stored at the following location:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Mikrofab\TFT Measurement App\license.key

8. Automatic Update

The software checks for updates at launch and manually from the Help menu:

How it works:

1. The software reads the latest.json manifest (cache-busting, fresh read).
2. If the version in the manifest is newer than the current __version__, an update is announced.
3. If you approve, the installer is downloaded; if the manifest contains sha256, the download undergoes SHA-256 integrity verification.
4. The download can resume from where it left off (HTTP Range); on a slow/intermittent connection it is retried up to 5 times.

9. Interface Tour: The Shell Architecture

The application window is built on a modern "shell" architecture. It consists of three main regions:

1. Left rail (workspace rail): The vertical icon strip used to switch between workspaces (width 96 px).
2. Center stack: The page of the selected workspace (card gallery, cockpit, table, etc.) or a module's detail view.
3. Top device bar: The global search box, the Application (family) filter, the command palette button (⌘K) and the EMERGENCY STOP (E-STOP) button.

9.1 The Left Rail and Workspaces

The rail contains 11 workspaces in order. The icon of the selected item is painted in the accent color, the others in a muted color; a 3 px accent bar appears on the left edge of the selected item.

9.2 The Home Cockpit

The Home page is a two-column cockpit dashboard:

• Top (hero) strip: A time-aware greeting (Good morning / Good afternoon / Good evening), the product slogan + version, a search box that opens the command palette when clicked, a system status badge, and action buttons (New Measurement, Open Dataset, Run Recipe, Import Data, Try with a Simulated Device).
• Left column: Recent activity (filtered with the All / Measurement / Analysis / Data tabs), favorites, quick-start cards.
• Right column: The active measurement job card (shown while running), the outdoor ambient card (if enabled), the System and Hardware summary, start tiles by discipline, and tips.

9.3 The Detail View (Opening a Module)

When you click a measurement/analysis card, the detail view of the corresponding module opens. At the top of the detail view there is a breadcrumb (e.g. Measure › Transfer) and a Back button. The module panel (parameters, live graph, readout area) lives inside this view.

10. Top Search and Command Palette

There are two quick-access paths to everything in the software; both use the same intuitive, multilingual search source (even if you type in TR, EN results match, and vice versa):

10.1 Top-bar live search

As you type into the search box on the top bar, a dropdown list appears beneath it; matching measurement modules, analyses and workspaces (up to 12 results) are shown. Navigate with Up/Down, and Enter/click selects and opens it directly.

10.2 Command Palette

The command palette opens with Ctrl+K or Ctrl+P (or with the ⌘K button on the top bar):

• With an empty query: all workspaces + recently used modules (up to 8).
• With a filled query: matching intuitive results (up to 30).
• Enter opens the selected (or, if none, the first) row, Esc or clicking outside closes it.

10.3 Application (Family) Filter

The Application: dropdown on the top bar filters all galleries by device family:

The selection is persistent (written to the configuration) and is applied simultaneously to the Home, Measure, Analyze, Calc and Control pages.

11. Appearance: Theme, Language, Font and Number Format

All of these settings are found under Settings → Appearance (Theme & font) and Settings → Language and user (Language & user). The theme, language and font are applied with a live preview; changes become permanent only with Save (Cancel reverts to the old value).

11.1 Light Theme — Default

The software ships with the light theme by default (theme: "light"). The dark theme can also be selected; both are derived from the same design-token palette.

11.2 Language (TR / EN)

The interface language is selected between Turkish (tr) and English (en); the default is English (language: "en"). Translation is done with a lightweight dictionary-based infrastructure (app/i18n.py); an unknown key is shown as-is (a missing translation does not break the application).

• The language is applied instantly; however, to avoid TR/EN mixing across the interface, the software recommends a restart on a language change:
  ℹ️

  Note "The application will restart so the language change is applied across the entire interface. Continue?"
• The guide language is a separate setting: you can choose the language of the help/guide texts independently.

11.3 Font

The font family is selected from Settings; if left empty, the embedded default Inter is used (JetBrains Mono monospace for numeric/technical text). The font family is previewed live; a size change is applied on Save.

11.4 Number Format (Engineering) and Readout Precision

The software can display numbers in three formats, both in input fields and on graph axes. The default is the engineering format (2-Engineering).

The calculation of the engineering format (input → formula → output):

input:   value (e.g. 1.2e-5 A)
formula: exponent = floor( log10(|value|) / 3 ) × 3     (range: -12 … +9)
         scaled   = value / 10^exponent
         prefix   = { -12:p, -9:n, -6:µ(u), -3:m, 0:'', 3:k, 6:M, 9:G }[exponent]
output:  "{scaled:.{precision}g} {prefix}{unit}"   ->  "12 µA"
unit:    SI prefixes (IEEE/SI engineering notation)

• Input fields also accept engineering suffixes: values such as 5 mV, 10 nA, 1k, 2.2µF can be typed directly; a field can be left completely empty (it does not revert to the old value).
• The readout panel decimal places (readout_decimals, default 2) affect only the readout panel; reports are not affected.

12. User Modes (Operator / Expert / Developer)

The user mode scales the complexity of the interface according to your role. There are four levels, ordered as follows:

• A module card appears only if the user's level is not lower than the module's threshold level (min_user_mode).
• The Advanced parameters section is hidden only in Operator mode; in the other modes it is visible.

13. Keyboard Shortcuts and General Navigation

The software offers a navigation experience consistent with desktop standards (including browser/file-explorer-style forward/back history).

The Esc behavior is layered (tried in order):

1. If a measurement/series is running, it stops it first (this is the main expectation).
2. If you are typing in an input field, it releases focus (cancels the edit; prevents accidentally going back).
3. If you are in the inner detail of a page (e.g. the Calc calculation panel), it first returns to the card list.
4. If you are in a detail/overlay view, it closes the panel (goes back).

14. Important File Locations (Summary)

With this chapter you have come to know the software as a whole, the path from installation to the first measurement, and every corner of the interface. The following chapters cover each workspace on the left rail (Measure, Analyze, Calc, Control, Data and Reports, Lab Notebook, Hardware) and the modules within them one by one, together with their formulas and standard foundations.