Notice of Intent to Noncompetitively acquire an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) for Nanoscale Thermomechanics.

This notice is not a request for a quotation. A solicitation document will not be issued, and quotations will not be requested.

This acquisition is being conducted under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b). The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334516 – Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing, with a small business size standard of 1,000 employees.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Nanomechanical Properties Group requires an environmental Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) to provide nanoscale thermomechanical measurements of various materials and structures used in advanced packaging in order to meet CHIPS mission requirements to establish the capacity for the development and deployment of advanced manufacturing semiconductor technologies. To perform nanoscale thermomechanical measurements for advanced packaging, NIST requires an environmental AFM with interferometric detection and photothermal excitation capabilities with temperature control and inside an inert gas chamber.

The AFM must meet all technical specifications and performance specifications identified below:

1. 1. The AFM shall provide both the optical beam detection (cantilever slope measurement) and interferometric detection of the cantilever (cantilever vertical measurement). The interferometric detection noise shall be less than 100 femtometer/sqrt_Hz. The interferometric laser spot shall be less than 5 micrometers in diameter.
   2. The AFM shall provide photothermal drive actuation in addition to piezo actuation of the cantilever with drive frequency at least 5 MHz. The photothermal drive shall have a laser spot less than 5 micrometers in diameter.
   3. The positioning of both photothermal drive laser and photodetector laser along the AFM cantilever shall be motorized and fully controlled from the software.
   4. The AFM shall have a scan range of at least 25 micrometers in the X and Y directions and at least 5 micrometers in the Z direction.
   5. The AFM shall perform “closed loop” scanning based on position sensors that use linear variable differential transformer methods.
   6. The AFM shall be capable of “fast scanning” with imaging at line scan rates of at least 20 Hz.
   7. The AFM must accept sample sizes at least 15 mm diameter and at least 5mm in height.
   8. The AFM shall provide operational scanning modes like tapping mode, contact mode, dual frequency mode, electric force microscopy, kelvin probe microscopy, contact resonance mode, storage modulus, loss tangent mode, piezo force microscopy, conductive AFM.
   9. The AFM shall provide imaging modes for determination of storage modulus and loss tangent at spatial resolution above 512x512 pixels.
   10. The AFM shall include a fully sealed (at least 5 psi) sample chamber for working in inert gas environment.
   11. The AFM shall provide temperature control in the range from 0 °C to 250 °C for the environmental chamber.
   12. The AFM shall include an acoustic isolation hood that isolates at least at 20 dB below the ambient noise level.
   13. All the measurements, controls, and data storage of the AFM shall be provided by a software interface.
   14. The AFM shall include application modules for: photothermal actuation, mechanical property mapping, cooling/heating, inert gas chamber, and environmental electrical measurements.

NIST conducted market research in September 2023 to February 2024 to determine what sources could potentially meet NIST’s minimum requirements. This included searches on GSA; SAM; surveying vendor websites; and issuance of a Sources Sought Notice on SAM.gov. The results of market research revealed that only Oxford Instruments Asylum Research Inc. (SAM UEID: Q365CKN56793) appears to be capable of meeting NIST’s requirements.

However, any sources that believe they are capable of meeting NIST’s minimum requirements are encouraged to respond to this notice by the response date to provide the following information at a minimum: Company Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number in https://sam.gov; details about what your company is capable of providing that meets or exceeds NIST’s minimum requirements; whether your company is an authorized reseller of the product or service being cited and evidence of such authorization; and any other information that can help NIST determine whether this requirement may be competitively satisfied. 

A determination by the Government not to compete the proposed acquisition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Only responses received by the offers due date and time of this notice will be considered by the government. Responses shall be submitted via email to [email protected].