HIGH PURITY MATERIAL

Notice ID Number NIST-FY25-CHIPS-0089

Title: Sources Sought Notice for High purity material to support CHIPs RGTM

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.

BACKGROUND

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Material Measurement Laboratory (MML), Chemical Sciences Division (CSD), is developing new reference materials consisting of high-purity materials having assigned values for elemental composition. As part of the responsibilities of NIST as the United States national metrology institute, this work is founded on more than a century of providing important reference materials to US industry.  The high-purity reference materials that are the subject of this sources sought notice form the top of the measurement hierarchy for establishing accuracy of measurements of the chemical elements.  They are also expected to find important applications in semiconductor manufacturing and other fields that rely critically on good measurements of high-purity materials.

The new reference materials to be developed will consist of bulk solid materials of high purity (better than 99.999 % mass fraction), probably provided as disks, wafers, and/or pins.  The materials must be adequately homogeneous in elemental content across and into the bulk, here defined as at least a few millimeters in any direction.  The reference materials will be assigned elemental mass fraction values for detectable contaminant elements across the periodic table, as well as a purity assay value.  Evaluations of the uncertainties of the assigned values will be very important.

The first step in the process of developing reference materials is the production of Research Grade Test Materials (RGTMs), which are used to determine industry needs, develop measurement protocols and determine the characteristics of future NIST reference materials.  The RGTM for the current work will need to be homogeneous and stable as it will be used in a future interlaboratory study. CSD is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a commercial item solution that meets or exceeds the following draft minimum specifications:

Sputtering target:

1. Sputtering target must be comprised of undoped silicon at a mass fraction purity of 99.999 % or higher.  The purity evaluation must be based on all elemental contaminants and not just ‘metals basis.’
2. Must be circular disc shape with a diameter between 10 mm and 40 mm.
3. The thickness of the disc must be between 3 mm and 20 mm.
4. One hundred individually wrapped discs are required, conforming to the packaging detailed below.

Packaging

1. Each disc detailed above must be individually wrapped for shipment, but also to protect the surface of the disc from abrasion, dirt and dust when not in use.
2. Packaging must be sufficient for easy shipment internationally while keeping the integrity of the disc intact.

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE

In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORRMATION. 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 specialist listed at the bottom of this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice.

• 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 laboratory equipment that your company sells that is of the nature addressed in the BACKGROUND section of this notice.  Include brand name, make, model, and/or other distinguishing information.
• State if your company is the manufacturer of the identified equipment or is a retailer or wholesaler that normally sells the identified equipment.  If the latter, indicate whether the manufacturer authorized in writing for your company to sell the identified equipment on behalf of the manufacturer.
• Describe performance capabilities and relevant or beneficial physical and functional features for any equipment you identified to satisfy the NIST-identified minimum specifications described in this notice.
• Identify any aspects of the NIST market research notice, including instructions, and draft minimum specifications in the BACKGROUND section above that could be viewed as unduly restrictive or contain unnecessary barriers that adversely affect your ability to fully participate and indicate why.  In such a scenario, please offer suggestions for how the market research notice and draft minimum specifications could be made more inclusive and competitive.
• 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.
• 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 aforementioned 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 aforementioned equipment at its delivery destination, if required per the NIST-identified minimum specifications, and provide description of 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 inspecting the intended installation site during the market research phase.
• State published price, discount or rebate arrangements for aforementioned equipment and/or provide link to access company’s published prices for equipment and services. 
• State whether the aforementioned 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.
• If the aforementioned 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 place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.
• Identify any customers in the public or private sectors in which you provided the aforementioned 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 5 pages including all attachments, charts, etc.

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