Electrochemical Atomic Force Microscope

Active

Contract Opportunity

The purpose of this sources sought notice is to conduct market research and identify potential sources of commercial products/services that satisfy the Government’s anticipated needs.

BACKGROUND

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Materials Measurement Laboratory, Materials Science and Engineering Division (https://www.nist.gov/mml/materials-science-and-engineering-division) is on the market for a high speed electrochemical atomic force microscope (ECAFM) needed to study electrochemical deposition and etching processes relevant to the fabrication of advanced microelectronics chips and devices. In particular, the ECAFM will be used to study the electrochemical deposition of films for microelectronic interconnects, to elucidate mechanistic aspects of the electrochemical deposition and dissolution processes, and to explore the optimization of such processes to obtain interconnects on patterned wafers with the required electronic properties. The proposed research will span a large range of length scales from 10’s of microns to atomistic dimensions, both normal to, and in the plane of the working electrode surface. The ECAFM will enable the in situ study of adsorption and charge transfer reactions, nucleation and growth, dissolution processes as well as detailed investigation of the electrochemical double layer structure. The microscope must be capable of revealing atomic scale defects on surfaces such as adatom or vacancies, e.g. demonstrated by imaging calcite. The microscope must demonstrate the ability to map force curves at higher speeds, up to ~ 1 kHz, as compared to conventional forces mapping (force volume) and provide for the analysis of curves for specific parameters in real time. Each curve should be captured at high bandwidth including the deflection signal, the Z-sensor and one optional channel. The software and system level data storage should support the fast force mapping operation including off-line software for detailed modeling of the force response.

NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a solution that will achieve the objectives described above, in addition to the following essential requirements:

The AFM microscope should have an accessible XY range of at least 30 µm and z range of at least 5 µm with XY position sensors enabling closed-loop scanning. Line scan rate of at least 1 Hz over full scan range and not less than 40 Hz over at least 10 µm range with high scan linearity and reproducibility, while operating in contact and tapping modes. Engaging the cantilever with the laser and specimen should be fully motorized and cantilever calibration of the spring constant and sensitivity should be automated. The microscope should include top-view bright field optics for viewing the cantilever and sample with resolution

Our applications require the ability to operate in a controlled environment with active control of temperature, atmosphere and injection and removal of electrolyte. For this purpose a sealed electrochemical cell including hardware for liquid and gas perfusion is required. The fluid cell should enable rapid fluid exchange from an inlet port located within 1 mm of the probe. Two EC cells and components should be provided one made of PEEK and the other PPS. The exposed contents in the cell must be robustly chemically inert to 1.0 mol/L HCl or 1.0 mol/L H2SO4 acid electrolytes. The electrolyte should only contact fused silica, perfluoroelastomer (FFKM) or glass filled PEEK or PPS or similarly inert materials. The electrochemical cell has perfusion ports for electrolyte exchange or/and sealing caps for imaging in the absence of electrolyte. The greater cell should have two separate ports for gas handling. A sample stage assembly and controller should provide for active temperature control between 0-120 Celsius.

In addition to piezo driving excitation the AFM should also include the option of photothermal excitation of the cantilever. This enables avoidance of the excitation of additional modes induced by acoustic excitation that are commonly used in the operation of AFM microscopes.

Two different laser sources for monitoring cantilever deflection should be provided one with nominal spot size of 10 µm x 30 µm and the other with a spot size of 3 µm x 9 µm or smaller to enable the use of the fastest and smallest AFM probes.

An additional probe support for scanning tunneling microscopy is needed along with appropriate preamplifier circuitry such that atomic resolved imaging of HOPG may be robustly demonstrated with a low noise floor. An external port should be available for coupling the STM tip and substrate to a biopotentiostat (provided by the user), and likewise an output port from the AFM/STM controller should be accessible for passing the tunneling bias as an input to the bipotentiostat (provided by the user).

External input and output ports, i.e. a break-out box or its equivalent, should be available for summing additional drive signals for the x-y-z translation and or monitoring the feedback signals

An optional cantilever for conductive AFM along with a set probes and associated tools and spares for use.

Sample packages of assorted cantilevers /probes for example that demonstrate the functionality of the AFM ranging from atomically resolved imaging of hard surfaces to the imaging of soft molecular surfactant adsorbates at immersed interfaces and/or hydration layers.

Acoustic enclosure and mechanical isolation support shall be provided.

Installation and training shall be provided and one year warranty and service agreement.

The system needs to be upgradeable to video rate imaging and the upgrade The upgrade should not require any change to the fluid cell hardware and the probe holder. Holders and fluid cells used with the base system shall be transferable without modification to the upgraded system.

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE

In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. Please include only the following information, readable in either Microsoft Word 365, Microsoft Excel 365, or .pdf format, in the response: Submit the response by email to the Primary Point of Contact and, if specified, to the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice. Please note that to be considered for award under any official solicitation, the entity must be registered and “active” in SAM at the time of solicitation response.

• Provide the complete name of your company, address, name of contact for follow-up questions, their email, their phone number and, if your company has an active registration in https://sam.gov, your company’s Unique Entity ID (UEI).

• Identify the equipment that your company sells that can meet the objectives addressed in the BACKGROUND section of this notice. For each product recommended to meet the Government’s requirement, provide the following:
  
  
  
  • Manufacturer name
  
  
  • Model number
  
  
  • Technical specifications
  
  
  • If your company is not the manufacturer, provide information on your company’s status as an authorized reseller of the product(s)
  
  
  
  

• Describe performance capabilities of the product(s) your company recommends to meet the Government’s requirements. Additionally, if there are other features or functions that you believe would assist NIST in meeting its objectives described above, please discuss in your response.

• Discuss whether the equipment that your company sells and which you describe in your response to this notice may be customized to specifications and indicate any limits to customization.

• Identify any aspects of the NIST market research notice, including instructions, and draft minimum specifications in the BACKGROUND section you cannot meet and state why. Please offer suggestions for how the market research notice and draft minimum specifications could be made more competitive.

• State whether the proposed equipment is manufactured in the United States and, if not, state the name of the country where the equipment is manufactured.

• Identify any plans/possibilities for changes in manufacturing location of the aforementioned equipment and provide relevant details, including timeline.

• For the NAICS code listed in this notice:

• Indicate whether your company is (a) a small business or (b) other than small business. See the Table of Small Business Size Standards and the associated .pdf download file for small business size standards and additional information.

• If you believe the NAICS code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of product addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS code that you believe would be more appropriate for the planned procurement.

• Describe services that are available with the purchase of the aforementioned equipment from your company such as installation, training, and equipment maintenance.

• Describe standard terms and conditions of sale offered by your company for the recommended equipment such as: delivery time after your company accepts the order; FOB shipping terms; manufacturer warranty (including details regarding nature and duration); if available, description(s) of available extended warranty; equipment setup and test; operator and service instruction manual(s); cleanup after installation; and if applicable, other offered services. Provide a copy of manufacturer standard terms and conditions that typically relate to the sale of the specified equipment, if available.

• State whether your company offers facility renovation services related to installation of the recommended equipment at its delivery destination, if required per the NIST-identified minimum specifications, and provide description of said services. Indicate if your company performs the facility renovation services or typically subcontracts the work to another company. Indicate if your company would be interested in inspecting the intended installation site during the market research phase.

• State published price, discount, or rebate arrangements for recommended equipment and/or provide link to access company’s published prices for equipment and services.

• If the recommended equipment and related services are available for purchase on any existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts against which NIST may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.

• Identify any customers in the public or private sectors to which you provided the recommended or similar equipment. Include customer(s) information: company name, phone number, point of contact, email address.

• Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for NIST to know as part of its market research for this requirement.

• State if you require NIST to provide additional information to improve your understanding of the government’s requirement and/or would like to meet with NIST representatives to discuss the requirement and the capabilities of the identified equipment.

QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE

Questions regarding this notice may be submitted via email to the Primary Point of Contact and the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice. Questions should be submitted so that they are received 5 days prior to the response date. If the Contracting Officer determines that providing a written amendment to this notice to document question(s) received would benefit other potential respondents, the questions would be anonymized, and a written response to such question(s) would be provided via an amendment to this notice.

IMPORTANT NOTES

This notice is for market research purposes and should not be construed as a commitment by NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. There is no solicitation available at this time.

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.

NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate.

Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

After a review of the responses received, a synopsis and solicitation may be published on GSA’s eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered an adequate response to any such solicitation(s).

Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request!

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