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Data from Omicron instruments

The reader supports .sm4 files from Scienta Omicron instruments. The files are converted into the NXstm application definition.

The .sm4 file is read with the spym package in src/pynxtools_spm/parsers/omicron_sm4.py (class Sm4Omicron).

Supported formats and versions

Technique Extension Software Tested versions Formatter Default config
STM .sm4 Omicron not version specific OmicronSM4STM configs/omicron/omicron_sm4_stm.json

The .sm4 format carries no software version concept that the reader depends on, so no version is listed here — the reader handles the format as such. If no config file is passed on the command line, the default config shipped with the package is used.

.sm4 data (STM)

Download and try with the Omicron STM example files, or visit the GitHub folder.

pynx convert --nxdl NXstm --reader spm --output output.nxs eln_data.yaml VT220120_A2_0001.sm4

The example above relies on the default config. To use your own mapping, add the config file as a further input:

pynx convert --nxdl NXstm --reader spm --output output.nxs eln_data.yaml VT220120_A2_0001.sm4 config.json

One scan control group per scan

An Omicron .sm4 file holds several scans (e.g. current_forward, current_backward, topography_forward, topography_backward). The config file therefore instantiates the group SPM_SCAN_CONTROL[spm_scan_control_*] once per scan, where the asterisk * is replaced by the scan name. See Work with Reader for how to write such a config entry.

Further reading