ATOMIC LAYER DEPOSITION (ALD) BATCH REACTOR

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

NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large and small businesses. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 333242– Semiconductor Machinery Manufacturing, with a Small Business Size Standard of 1,500 employees. This notice does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quotation (RFQ), Invitation for Bids (IFB), or any commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or award a contract. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will not pay for any information submitted in response to this notice. Submission of information is voluntary and will not result in any obligation on the part of the Government.

NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME

Requests for solicitation documents will not receive a response. Respondents shall clearly mark any proprietary or restricted information. In the absence of such markings, NIST will assume unlimited rights to all technical data submitted.

BACKGROUND

The semiconductor supply chain is global, specialized, and interconnected. Chipmakers do business with thousands of individual suppliers that provide the highly complex materials and tools used to produce semiconductors. To address the lack of full visibility into the semiconductors markets supply chain and R&D ecosystem gaps NIST will conduct the measurement science, or metrology, critical to the development of new materials, packaging, and production methods in chip manufacturing. 

The Chemical Process and Nuclear Measurements Group is seeking an Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) Batch Reactor to support a CHIPS R&D Metrology project focused on characterizing the stability of biofunctional semiconductor interfaces in chip-based biosensors. The reactor will be used to fabricate metal oxide and self-assembled monolayer (SAM) interfaces on 200 mm wafer substrates, which will then be subjected to interface stability and failure analyses using advanced metrology developed at NIST. The ALD reactor is a critical component of this program, aimed at understanding the impact of metal oxide and SAM deposition recipes on biosensor performance and lifetime, and ultimately accelerating biosensor development and improving manufacturing processes critical for commercial viability.

DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT

The contractor shall deliver a quantity of one (1) ALD Batch Reactor inclusive of warranty and FOB Destination delivery that meets all minimum technical specifications identified below:

Technical Specifications for Hardware

1. Wafer size: Small pieces, up to and including 200 mm
2. Wafer heating: Room temperature to 300 °C (or higher)
3. Wafer uniformity: 1% or better thickness uniformity for Al2O3 on Si (one standard deviation)
4. Chamber heating: Independent of wafer, warm wall capable
5. Carrier gas flow control: Thermal mass flow controller (MFC)
6. Flow controller isolation: Pneumatic valve to isolate MFC for exposure mode
7. Pressure measurement: Heated capacitance diaphragm gauge (CDG)
8. Precursor manifold: 5 sources
   1. 5x single-port sources, including one source valve dedicated to ozone
   2. All process lines welded stainless steel and fitted with VCR metal seals
9. Precursor manifold heating: 150 °C or higher, jacketed
10. Precursor injection valves: Fast-actuating (<20 ms) diaphragm valves with high-temperature perfluoroalkoxy alkanes (PFA) seats (200 °C)
11. Precursor vessels:
    1. 4x 50 mL one-port cylinders with >150 °C manual shutoff valves
    2. 4x cylinder heating jackets
    3. Each vessel individually heated
12. Temperature control: All zones PID controlled, individual zones for wafer chuck, reactor walls, precursor manifold, precursor vessels, SAM delivery system
13. SAM delivery system: Fixed volume, quantitative delivery of low volatility SAM precursors with integrated CDG endpoint control
14. Optical access: Windows/ports for access to wafer surface for in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry
15. Exposure mode: Computer controlled downstream isolation valve for long exposures
16. Vendor supplied recipes for common ALD processes such as Al2O3, TiO2, ZnO, Ta2O5, HfO2, In2O3 and common SAM processes such as aminopropyl ethoxy silane (APTES), decyltrichlorosilane (DTS), etc.
17. Ozone or O2 plasma source for chamber cleaning:
    1. Ozone generator: 200 ng/mL or higher
    2. Ozone abatement: Ozone destruct unit for ozone vent/bypass
18. Precursor abatement: Heated high-surface area trap for decomposing unreacted precursor
19. Power requirement: Single phase 120 V, 20 A max
20. Utility requirements: Compressed air for pneumatics, dry inert gas for carrier gas
21. Safety interlocks: emergency-off (EMO) circuit, pushbutton, and hardware watchdog
22. Chemical safety: Vented precursor cabinet
23. Footprint: 24” W x 24” D x <48” H
24. Repairability: All consumable parts such as valves, actuators, gauges, heaters, vessels, critical orifices, O-rings, windows to be user-replaceable
25. Documentation: System to include complete documentation of installed hardware, control system, system commissioning, system operation, and maintenance of consumables/parts
26. Vacuum pump: Not included. Government will use an existing dry pump with at least 10 cubic feet per minute of pumping speed.
27. Installation: System should be end-user installable with assembly being limited to connecting air supply, nitrogen supply, power, and reactant sources.
28. Training: Not included. Operating and maintenance manuals to include all information needed for system startup, operation, and maintenance.

Technical Specifications for Software

1. Fully integrated computer or PLC controlled system operation
2. Recipe-based control of carrier flow, valve actuation, timed exposure mode, fixed volume SAM delivery, ozone delivery system, all heaters including precursor vessels
3. Real-time monitoring of valve states, temperature zones, pressures, and flow rates
4. Logging of all sensor data during deposition
5. Saving and loading of user-created deposition recipes
6. Safety interlocks to prevent co-dosing of multiple precursors, dosing of any precursors when chamber is not under vacuum, and thermal runaway of heaters

RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS
Interested parties shall submit a written capability statement addressing the following:
1. Company name, address, Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number, CAGE code, and point-of-contact information
2. Business size and socio-economic status (if applicable) for the NAICS code provided
3. Description of company capabilities relevant to the products/services described above
4. Description of prior experience providing/performing similar products/services described above
5. Identification of applicable contract vehicles (e.g., GSA FSS, GWACs), including contract numbers
6. Any other information the Government should consider for market research purposes
7. State whether the proposed product is manufactured in the United States and if not, state the name of the country where the product is manufactured.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
The information received in response to this notice will be reviewed and considered so that NIST may appropriately solicit for its requirements in the near future.  All responses to this notice must be submitted via email to Sadaf.Afkhami@nist.gov, no later than 10:00 AM EST on July 14, 2026.

Format: Microsoft Word or PDF
Page Limit: 12 pages maximum
Font: Times New Roman, 11-point
Paper Size: 8.5 x 11 inches
Margins: Minimum 1 inch on all sides

Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to Sadaf.Afkhami@nist.gov, no later than 12:00 PM EST on July 2, 2026.