Using ELN Functionality of Kadi4Mat (KadiWeb) in a Materials Science Case Study of a User Facility

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce our approach in using the web-based application Kadi4Mat (KadiWeb) as an electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) combined with an integrated instrument database to facilitate Findable - Accessible - Interoperable - Reusabe (FAIR) research data. Facing transmission electron microscopy (TEM), focused ion beam (FIB), atom probe tomography (APT), or scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tasks, including sample preparation challenges, we developed a strategy to document the complex processes in our user facility KNMFi. To create appropriate records in Kadi4Mat we are comprising one central record for the material/sample to be investigated, a record for the sample preparation, a record for the investigation/experiment, and a record for the data evaluation. Therefore, a set of appropriate templates for the categories ‘sample preparation general,’ ‘sample preparation for TEM,’ ‘Focused Ion Beam and Scanning Electron Microscopy,’ ‘Transmission Electron Microscopy,’ ‘Atom Probe Tomography,’ and ‘Data Evaluation’ was developed in ‘atomistic units.’ The templates can be combined easily and have been designed to be user-friendly, but at the same time requesting the relevant metadata in a structured and standardized way. The documentation process, including MaTeLiS-instrument database, is demonstrated in a use-case with several sample preparation steps and different investigation methods. The developed templates can be exported in JSON-format and might be used as models for other tasks.

Keywords

• eln
• kadi4mat
• documentation
• metadata
• materials science