The National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) seeks information on commercial vendors that are capable of providing a suite of three plasma processing tools. The tools will be installed in a clean room at NIST in Boulder, CO. and will be used for fabricating superconducting thin film integrated circuits and microelectromechanical (MEMS) devices for a wide variety of sensor, imaging, ion confinement and biomagnetic research projects. After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed and specifications are developed for a suite of tools 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. This contemplated procurement is anticipated to utilize Recovery Act Funding if it is determined that responsible sources can satisfy the requirement. NIST has a need for a suite of three plasma processing tools, a reactive ion etcher using fluorine chemistry for etching metals including Niobium and Molybdenum , a reactive ion etcher using chlorine chemistry for etching Aluminum and III-IV compound semiconductors, and a High Density Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition System for depositing high quality SiO2 The three systems must have common user interfaces, common connections to safety and fire suppression systems and to the extent possible, common connections for utilities such as power, cooling water and process gases. In the aggregate, tools must meet the following requirements: 1. Capable of processing 3 inch, 100 mm and 150 mm wafers. 2. Automated load lock 3. Full computer control and recipe development software. 4. Automatic wafer-by-wafer data logging which records all tool parameters and user-entered data. 5. Wafer chuck system capable of cooling wafer to <10 C during processing with minimal edge exclusion. 6. Alumina-lined chamber; ICP source providing a minimum power of 2 kW. Source and/or chamber heating system to maintain a minimum temperature of 70C. 7. Proven and documented (via SEM images for etches, index and etch rate data for depositions) recipes for: a. Etching of Nb with 90±5 sidewall angle, etch rate > 200nm/min, >1:1 selectivity to resist and >10:1 selectivity to SiO2, ±5% uniformity across the wafer. b. Etching of Al with 90±1 sidewall angle, etch rate >150nm/min, >2:1 selectivity to resist, ±5% uniformity across the wafer. c. Etching of Al2O3 with >80 sidewall angle, etch rate >50 nm/min, >0.4:1 selectivity to resist, ±5% uniformity across the wafer. d. Etching of GaAs up to 5 micrometers thick with 90±5 sidewall angle, >5:1 selectivity to SiO2; GaAs and AlGaAs etch rate within 5% of each other. e. Growth of SiO2 with a wafer temperature <100C, deposition rate >50nm/min. Resulting oxide must have a pinhole density of <1/cm2 for a 300 nm thick film, index of refraction 1.45

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