CHIPS R&D: Service Agreement for a Hitachi S5500 Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)

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.

I. BACKGROUND

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), CHIPS R&D Program, Electron-Solid Interactions Project (Metrology Program | NIST, Electron-Solid Interactions | NIST) seeks a multi-year scanning electron microscope (SEM) maintenance agreement. The agreement will be for a Hitachi S5500 SEM. The instrument is located at NIST’s Gaithersburg, MD research laboratory. In the current project, the S5500 is used to obtain high spatial resolution secondary electron and scanning transmission electron images of line/space patterns with line widths in the range of 10 nm to 50 nm patterned on a 200 nm or thinner Si membrane. The measured images are compared to simulated images to improve the simulation models.

It is important that the instrument meets or exceeds the manufacturer’s rated performance specifications with minimal downtime. The agreement shall start upon date of an award and extend to Sept. 30, 2027 to include a base year, a full option year, and a partial option year. It shall provide routine preventive maintenance (PM), emergency services, repair, and calibration for the S5500. The service contract is required to keep this system operational, with minimal interruption in service, so it is available for use 24 hours per day and 7 days a week.

II. SCOPE OF WORK

The Contractor shall provide a service agreement for preventive maintenance and emergency service for the SEM on a scheduled and as-needed basis to ensure uninterrupted performance within manufacturers’ specifications. The instrument is complex and requires routine maintenance and calibration to continuously meet the manufacturer’s specifications. In addition, instruments of this type occasionally require emergency service to repair faults, failures, and sudden degradation in instrument performance.

Service and maintenance shall include unlimited emergency visits during regular business hours in addition to scheduled preventive maintenance visits for the base year and each full or partial option year. Covered expenses shall include all parts, labor, travel, and per diem. The Contractor shall repair/replace all parts (i.e., hardware, software, accessory components/systems) required for the operation of the microscope.

1. GENERAL
   
   
   
   1. Provide a preventive maintenance service contract for the Hitachi S5500 SEM. The contract shall consist of a base year, one full option year, and one partial option year, ending on September 30, 2027.
   
   
   
   


2. BASE REQUIREMENTS


3. Provide one preventive maintenance visit during each year of the service agreement and for the final partial year. Scheduling of the visit shall be consistent with the maintenance requirements of the instrument as detailed in the service and use manuals for the equipment. Preventive maintenance visits shall occur during NIST’s regular business hours


4. The contractor shall respond to an unlimited number of requests for service calls in the event of an instrument failure that requires immediate repair. For such calls, the response (time from first call for emergency service until a qualified service engineer arrives on site) will be within 48 h. The Contractor shall provide travel, labor, and any factory-certified parts that require replacement.


5. The Contractor is responsible to obtain all parts required for all repairs and maintenance.


6. All parts shall be approved for use with the instrument by Hitachi. The Contractor shall only employ tools, instruments, test apparatus, methodologies, techniques, and practices approved for use with the instrument by the manufacturer.


7. All repairs must result in the instrument meeting the manufacturer’s specifications.


8. All service provided under this agreement must be provided by Hitachi factory trained personnel who are fluent in the operation of the covered instrument.


9. The Contractor shall provide telephone support for the covered equipment during regular business hours.

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:

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).

The responses shall not exceed 20 pages including all attachments, charts, etc.

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

Attachments/Links