This Notice is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal or Request for Quotation or an obligation on the part of the NIST for conducting a follow-on acquisition. NIST does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice, or otherwise pay for the information requested. No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of submission of responses to this Notice and NIST's use of such information. NIST recognizes that proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary data and present it as an addendum to the non-restricted/non-proprietary information. In the absence of such identification, NIST will assume to have unlimited rights to all technical data provided in the response.

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The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seeks information on commercial vendors that are capable of providing a fully automated downstream plasma photoresist asher and descum system in an effort to support nanofabrication in the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) user facility.  The system will be sited and used as a shared resource accessible to researchers from industry, academia, NIST, and other government agencies in the CNST NanoFab.  The system will enable rapid removal of photoresists as well as surface photoresist residue removal prior to etch processes.

General Description

NIST is seeking information from vendors capable of supplying a complete downstream photoresist asher and descum tool with standard processes for bulk photoresist removal and residue removal.

1. General requirements
   1. The system must be capable of processing 100 mm diameter silicon wafers.
   2. The system must be new.  Refurbished or used systems will not be considered.
   3. The system must be an established product.  No first articles or demonstration systems.  Please state the number of deployed systems.
2. System requirements:
   1. Downstream plasma source.
   2. Process endpoint detection for bulk photoresist removal.
   3. Lamp based heating system with closed loop temperature control capable of operating range from 150 °C to 350 °C.  Hot chuck systems will not be considered.
   4. Support for at least 4 gas channels.
   5. Pressure control via throttle valve.
   6. Cassette to cassette wafer handling system
   7. Fully automatic operation under recipe control including wafer handling, process execution, and data collection.
3. Established process library:
   1. The vendor shall provide established processes for bulk photoresist removal and pre-etch surface cleaning (descum).
   2. Established process documentation shall include process parameters, process uniformity and repeatability information.

NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large, foreign, and small businesses. Small businesses are defined under the associated NAICS code for this effort, 333242, as those domestic sources having 1,500 employees or less. Please include your company’s size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice. 

Companies that manufacture downstream plasma photoresist asher systems are requested to email a detailed report describing their abilities to [email protected] no later than the response date for this sources sought notice. The report should include achievable specifications and any other information relevant to your product or capabilities. Also, the following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice: 1. Name of the company that manufactures the system components for which specifications are provided. 2. Name of company(s) that are authorized to sell the system components, their addresses, and a point of contact for the company (name, phone number, fax number and email address). 3. Indication of number of days, after receipt of order that is typical for delivery of such systems. 4. Indication of whether each instrument for which specifications are sent to [email protected] are currently on one or more GSA Federal Supply Schedule contracts and, if so, the GSA FSS contract number(s). 5. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in developing its minimum specifications and finalizing its market research.