From Object to Journey
Why It Matters
In most labs, the sample is the reason everything exists.
And yet, software often treats it as secondary.
You have:
- Recipes
- Logs
- Tool data
- Calibration files
But the sample — the physical object — is scattered across them.
A sample is not a recipe.
It is a journey through a system.
UnicornOne treats it that way.
Part I — Locations
Physical Reality, Digitally Structured
Every system has physical slots:
- Load locks
- Transfer arms
- Growth chamber manipulators
- Storage racks
- Metrology stations
UnicornOne models these explicitly.
Each location is part of the structured system map.
Create a Sample
You can create a sample before it ever enters a chamber.
When created, it receives:
- Structured metadata
- Owner / user association
- Automatically generated ProcessID
- UUID
Data is FAIR-aligned from the start.
No retroactive cleanup.
No lost lineage.
Drag and Drop Through the System
Samples are moved digitally the same way they are moved physically.
Drag and drop from:
Load lock → transfer → growth chamber → metrology → storage.
The system understands location context.
When a recipe runs in a growth chamber:
The associated manipulator automatically stamps the active sample with the ProcessID.
No manual tagging.
No ambiguity.
Automatic Sample Stamping
As tools and recipes execute:
- Growth conditions
- Calibration steps
- Metrology captures
- Snapshots
Are automatically linked to the active sample.
The operator does not have to “remember to log it.”
It is inherent.
Part II — Sample Experiment Logs
A Causal Record of the Journey
A sample is not a growth recipe.
It is everything that happened to it.
UnicornOne generates a causal experiment log automatically from immutable data.
What Gets Captured
For each sample:
- Where it has been
- What temperatures it experienced
- What pressures
- What fluxes
- What layers were grown
- What calibration steps were executed
- What metrology signals were recorded
- What anomalies occurred
All reconstructed from structured system state.
Not handwritten notes.
Not stitched spreadsheets.
Immutable, Reconstructable History
Because data in UnicornOne is immutable and structured:
The experiment log is not a summary.
It is a reconstruction.
Intent → command → outcome
Across the entire system.
Export and Integration
Sample experiment logs can be:
- Exported as HDF5 archives
- Automatically uploaded to NOMAD Oasis
- Integrated into external research databases
From day one, your data is publication-ready.
The Philosophy
When the sample becomes the organizing principle:
Reproducibility improves.
Knowledge compounds.
Collaboration becomes structured.
AI training becomes possible.
UnicornOne does not just control processes.
It tracks matter through space and time.
Bizmuth 