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 refurbished parallel plate Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) system 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 NIST NanoFab. The PECVD system is a tool that uses chemical plasma to deposit oxides, nitrides, and amorphous silicon on to varied substrate materials. Applications include fabricating nano-semiconductor and nano-photonic devices.

The NanoFab currently operates a high density PECVD system that is heavily used to fabricate a wide variety of devices with different deposited films and substrate materials. However, the current tool cannot meet the requirements of a growing number of NanoFab users. More and more materials are being etched. The capacity of the existing system is becoming a "bottle-neck" for plasma deposition in the NanoFab. To increase the NanoFab's capacity to serve users, the NanoFab has a need for another PECVD system.

General Requirements:
• The system shall be an Oxford Plasmalab System 100, load lock PECVD
• The system shall be reconditioned to OEM specifications including new process kit, shower head, base plate, and dark shield.
• The system shall include the latest X20 PLC and advanced loadlock with stepper motor placement control.
• If available, the vendor shall provide information about required vacuum pumps and chillers.
• The system shall use the PlasmaTherm Cortex control hardware and software system which is required to be compatible with our existing systems.
• The system shall include six gas channels, Silane, Ammonia, Nitrous Oxide, Helium, CF4, and N2.
• The system shall include full documentation and all system manuals.
• The system shall include a minimum of six months warranty.
• The system shall include tool startup and commissioning by a qualified field service engineer.
• Startup must demonstrate key processes of oxide deposition, variable stress nitride deposition, amorphous silicon deposition.

After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed and specifications are developed for a vendor that can meet NIST's minimum requirements, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a Purchase Order. If at least two qualified small businesses are identified during this market research stage, then any competitive procurement that resulted would be conducted as a small business set-aside.

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, 334516, as those domestic sources having 1,000 employees or less. Please include your company's size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice.

Companies that can provide the required etch system 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.

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