Inactive

Project Title: Ultra-High Vacuum Compatible Scanning Electron Microscopy Column and Secondary Electron Detector This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not rec... Project Title: Ultra-High Vacuum Compatible Scanning Electron Microscopy Column and Secondary Electron Detector This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not receive a response. 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 National Institute of Standards and Technology (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 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 in the information paper. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME. Background: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Applied Chemicals and Materials Division in Boulder, CO is seeking vendors who have the capability to provide scanning electron microscopy (SEM) capabilities inside the ultra-high vacuum (UHV) analysis chamber of a NIST-owned CAMECA LEAP3000X-Si atom probe tomograph. The SEM will enable for real-time in-situ specimen shape imaging and precise specimen/electrode alignment capability. Requirement: NIST is seeking information on contractors who can provide the following general items: (1) A fully UHV-compatible field emission (Schottky) electron column. Such an SEM source (colloquially known as an electron "gun") is required to be fully compatible with the existing CAMECA LEAP3000X-Si atom probe tomograph UHV analysis chamber. The entire gun and any in-chamber hardware must fully bakeable to at least 120 ?C. A variable working distance of at least 14 mm is required to accommodate the existing contents of the UHV chamber. The accelerating voltage must be variable between 0.5 kV and 30 kV. The spatial resolution must be at least 15 nm at 14 mm working distance and 30 kV. The source will have motorized apertures, a gun valve, beam blanker, and a Faraday cup for directly measuring the beam current. (2) A port aligner for the electron source that is compatible with the CAMECA LEAP3000X-Si atom probe tomograph UHV analysis chamber upper specimen alignment camera port (DN125CF (6.75" OD) flange) and that gives the ability to obtain the required working distance when installed. The port aligner is required because the area needing to be imaged is not fixed in space. (3) A UHV-compatible, bakeable to at least 120 ?C secondary electron detector that fits on the top-facing puck alignment camera DNCF35 (2.75" OD) flange and is fully compatible with the CAMECA LEAP3000X-Si atom probe tomograph UHV analysis chamber. (4) Any and all high-voltage supplies, control electronics, acquisition software, scan generators, equipment racks, bake heaters and controllers, vacuum pumps, user interface, computers, electron control panel, and any additional hardware or software required to operate the UHV scanning electron source as a standard SEM microscope for secondary electron image collection inside of the UHV chamber. (5) The electron source and detector shall not raise the pressure in the UHV chamber to exceed the operating specification for collection of atom probe data as specified by CAMECA Instruments. Interested parties shall describe the capabilities of their organization as it relates to the services described above. NIST anticipates issuing a Request for Quotation in the third quarter of FY2019, and awarding a contract no later than the fourth quarter of FY2019. NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large and small businesses. The small business size standard associated with the NAICS code for this effort, 334516, is 1000 employees. Please include your company's size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice. After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a contract. Companies that can provide such services are requested to email a written response describing their abilities to donald.graham@nist.gov no later than the response date for this sources sought notice. The following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice: 1. Name, Address, DUNS number, CAGE code, and point of contact information of your company. 2. Any information on the company's small business certifications, if applicable. 3. Description of your company's capabilities as they relate to the services described in this notice. 4. A description of your company's previous experience providing the services described in this notice. 5. Indication of whether the services described in this notice are currently offered via your company's GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts, Government-wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), or other existing Government-wide contract vehicles; and, if so, the contract number(s) for those vehicles. 6. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in finalizing its market research. Responses are limited to a total of twelve (12) pages. The responses must be in MS Word format. Pages shall be 8½-inch x 11-inch, using Times New Roman 11 Point Font. Each page shall have adequate margins on each side (at least one inch) of the page. Header/footer information (which does not include any information to be analyzed) may be included in the 1" margin space.