66 -- VACUUM SPUTTERING SYSTEM

Notice Date

January 31, 2001

Contracting Office

DOC; Mountain Administrative Support Center, Acquisition Management Division, MC3, 325 Broadway MC3, Boulder, CO 80305-3328

ZIP Code

80305-3328

Solicitation Number

52RANB10C022

Response Due

February 26, 2001

Point of Contact

Procurement Technicians, 303/497-3221, FAX 303/497-3163

E-Mail Address

NOAA; MASC Acquisition Management ( masc.solicitation@noaa.gov)

Description

This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented by additional information included this notice and in accordance with the simplified acquisition procedures authorized in FAR Part 13. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; = proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will NOT be issued. The solicitation number is 52RANB10C022 and is issued as a request for proposal (RFP). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-21. This acquisition is a small business set-aside. The NAICS Code is 334516, and small business size standard is 500 employees. Any amendment(s) hereto will only be published in the Commerce Business Daily. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requires two (2) Vacuum Sputtering Systems (Item 0001). One of these systems will be used to deposit superconducting normal metal-superconducting trilayers for the Josephson Voltage Standard project and the other system will be used to deposit proximity bilayers for the Nanoscale Cryoelectronics project. Because of the overriding similarities of these systems, they shall be identical in all aspects except which materials will be placed as the sputtering targets. The target materials for the systems will consist of, but not be limited to Nb, PdAu, Ti, Cu, Mo, and Al. The systems shall have the following specifications: Chamber -- shall be at least 46 cm (18 inch) diameter; O-ring sealed top plate, removable for servicing the interior of the chamber; welded, electro polished stainless steel chamber for high vacuum operation; conflat pumping, gauging and instrumentation ports = for all chamber accessories; three conflat source ports; load lock attachment port; electro mechanical hoist capable of raising the top plate; at least two 7 cm (2 3/4 inch) conflat ports for expansion; the system shall have ports to be compatible with the later addition of an ion source aimed at the substrate; minimum of two inspection ports with at least 5 cm (2 inch) windows; and able to withstand baking at 100 degrees centigrade without degradation. The vacuum pumping system = shall be capable of routinely providing a base pressure of under 5x10 to the minus 8 Torr. The systems shall be helium leak checked before shipment. The components shall consist of: For a vacuum pump, the systems shall use a CTI-8 Onboard cryopump or equal, with controller = and a water-cooled compressor; a pneumatically actuated isolation gate valve; oil sealed direct-drive mechanical roughing pump for roughing, = or cryopump regeneration; foreline trap, mist eliminator, roughing valve and assorted roughing hardware=96all flanges should be ISO/KF; independent, pneumatically actuated vent; and vacuum system controller with available computer control. The systems shall have a load lock with the following specifications: hinged, o-ring sealed door for ease of mounting wafers; 304 stainless steel construction; holder for a single 7.5 cm (3 inch) diameter substrate. The holder shall maintain = at least 7.2 cm (2.8 inch) deposition area; at least a 70 liter/sec Balzers/Pfeiffer, or equal, turbo molecular pump with oil sealed mechanical backing pump; reliable, easy-to-use substrate to chamber transfer mechanism with low particulate addition into the substrate platen; conflat expansion port for future plans; vacuum isolation valve and control hardware. The systems shall have the following vacuum gauging: one ionization gauge each in the process chamber and load = lock; one low vacuum gauge each in the process chamber, load lock, roughing line, and cryo regeneration line. The low vacuum gauges in the load lock and process chamber shall be capable of reading pressures between atmosphere and 1 mTorr; controllers and displays for all vacuum gauges. The systems shall have the following chamber pressure control features: gate valve with adjustable throttle valve to regulate the pumping rate for cryopump that may be controlled by the vacuum system controller; = two channels of mass flow control with controller, sensors and valves. One channel shall be for 0-100 sccm, one shall have a 0-10 sccm range. There shall be a shut-off valve on each mass flow line; = interconnections of the gas handling lines should be either VCR fittings or welded stainless steel; capacitance manometer, 50 mTorr range with pneumatic isolation valve, with controller, and pressure display with the ability to control pressure using the flow controllers and with computer control; the manometer shall have an accuracy of 0.15 percent of = reading or better. Inside the process chamber there shall be the following deposition components: Three DC magnetron sputter guns pointing at the substrate each to be able to contain a single 7.5 cm (3 inch target); each shall be water cooled with the magnets isolated from the water; each shall have a copper cooling plate on which to mount the target; each shall have an independent shutter which can be computer or = manually controlled; the systems shall either sputter up or sputter across; and an RF bias for the substrate =96 configured to clean the substrate. = The bias may be removed during deposition. The substrate platen shall have the following characteristics: water-cooling of the substrate if the platen shall reach a temperature higher than 130 degrees centigrade during a 5 minute, 1 kW deposition; rotate with respect to the sputter guns to improve film uniformity; a minimum of three wafer carrier pucks shall be provided with each system. These deposition sources shall = have the following controllers: a 1.5 kW DC sputtering supply, switchable, using a computer controlled interface between the three guns; a 600W RF supply, with auto-tuning matching network for the substrate rf bias; = and the supply should be controllable via the computer. The systems shall be capable of producing films with better than 3 percent uniformity of thickness across a 75 mm (3 inch) wafer, while maintaining a 100 nm/min rate (for Niobium). A computer with the following features shall control the system: computer control over all vacuum and pumping systems; computer control over all deposition systems; graphical user interface; automatic or manual control of all systems and subsystems, which shall allow for the growth of multi-layer films without user intervention once the system reaches the proper operating condition; = the film deposition shall be controlled with user-configurable recipes; source code for the software shall be provided if a mechanism for rapid integration of user feedback is not provided; compatible with Microsoft Windows 98 or more recent operating system; under computer control of multi-layer deposition, the time between the termination of one layer = to the beginning of the next layer shall be less than 30 seconds. The systems shall have water cooling for the various components with shut-off valves for each component and flow switches to interlock turbo pumps, sputter guns, and other critical components. A single = connection point to 208V 3 phase, 70-100 Amp service, routed through a central distribution panel (provided with the system) shall power each system. One complete set of drawings and manuals shall be provided with each system. Delivery of the systems, F.O.B. Destination, to NIST, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305-3328, shall be made within 180 days from Contractor=92s receipt of contract award. The systems shall be = installed by the Contractor at NIST, Boulder Labs, Boulder, CO and training provided for two people for two days on the systems. A warranty of one year for parts and labor shall be provided for each system. Forms and clauses stipulated herein may be downloaded via the internet at the following address: http://www.masc.noaa.gov/masc/amd/prc_cont.html. Interested parties are responsible for accessing and downloading documents and forms from that (or any other) site. Firms without = access to the internet may call 303/497-3221 and request that copies of the clauses, provisions, and/or forms be either mailed or faxed to them. Offers shall include a properly completed and signed Standard Form 1449. The firm fixed-price shall include all equipment, delivery, installation and training FOB Boulder, Colorado. The following provisions and clauses apply to this solicitation: FAR 52.212-1, (provision) =93Instructions to Offerors -- Commercial Items=94 // FAR 52.212-2, (provision) =93Evaluation -- Commercial Items=94 evaluation factors: (1) Past Performance (offerors shall submit a minimum of 3 references with points of contact of similar systems already in the field); (2) Ability of the vacuum components (chamber, pumps, gauges, load lock) to meet or exceed specifications; (3) Ability of the deposition components (sputter guns, gas handling, wafer handling, = power supplies) to meet or exceed specifications; (4) Ability of the control computer (interface and software) to meet or exceed specifications; (5) Ability of the installation, documentation and warranty to meet or exceed specifications; and (6) price. Technical and past performance, when combined, are significantly more important than price. // FAR 52.212-3, (provision) =93Offeror Representations and Certifications -- Commercial Items=94 (NOTE: Offerors shall include with their offers a completed copy of the provision at FAR 52.212-3.) // FAR 52.212-4, (clause) =93Contract Terms and Conditions -- Commercial Items=94 // FAR 52.212-5, (clause) =93Contract Terms and Conditions Required to = Implement Statutes or Executive Orders -- Commercial Items including the following additional FAR clauses referenced in FAR 52.212-5, subparagraphs (b) = (1) with Alt. I, (5), (7), (11), (12), (13), (14, (15), and (24). Award will be made to the offeror presenting the best overall value to the Government. Offers shall be evaluated in accordance with the Test Program procedures at FAR 13.500. For further information, please contact Jan Clark (303/497-6320). Offers are due at 3:00 P.M. on February 26, 2001 and shall be mailed to: BID DEPOSITORY/ DOC, NOAA, MASC, MC3, Acquisition Management Division, DSRC Room 33-GB506A, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305-3328. ALL hand-carried offers must be scanned in Building 22 at 325 Broadway in Boulder, Colorado prior to being delivered to the David Skaggs Research Center., Room 33-GB506A, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO. If they are not scanned, they may be refused. E-MAIL OR FACSIMILE OFFERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010202/66SOL013.HTM (D-031 SN50C3R5)