Sources sought AMD-SS20-08_posted.pdf

Document Type: Sources Sought Notice

Solicitation Number: AMD-SS20-08

Response Deadline: 02/17/2020, 12:00 PM, EST

Title: Cryogenic Ultra-High Vacuum Scanning Probe Infrared Nanospectroscopy Platform

Contracting Office Address

Department of Commerce

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Acquisition Management Division (AMD)

100 Bureau Drive

Building 301, Room B129, Mail Stop 1640, Gaithersburg MD, 20899-1640

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 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.

Summary of Requirement:

NIST is seeking information on small business concerns that are capable of providing one (1) Cryogenic Ultra-High Vacuum Scanning Probe Infrared Nanospectroscopy Platform that meets or exceeds the following requirements:

a) General specifications:

1. The cryogenic SPM system shall enable high resolution atomic force microscopy (AFM) topographic imaging in tapping mode. Other AFM imaging modalities could be useful and should be specified

2. The AFM capabilities of the cryogenic SPM system shall enable or must be compatible with photothermal induced resonance (PTIR) measurements (10 nm or better spatial resolution) similarly to what described in described in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 11652. or photoinduced force microscopy (PiFM) measurements (10 nm or better spatial resolution) similarly to what described in Sensors 2019 19 1530.

3. Additionally, the cryogenic SPM system shall enable one or both the following measurements modalities:

3a. the AFM capabilities shall enable or must be compatible with scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) measurements (imaging and or spectroscopy with 25 nm spatial resolution or better), similarly to what described in Nat. Comm. 2013, 4, 2890.

3b. scanning tunneling microscopy electro-luminescence (STM-EL) measurements (with atomic resolution) from the visible to near-IR similarly to what described in Science 2018, 361, 251.

b) Cryogenic and vacuum specifications:

1. The cryogenic SPM system shall operate in a temperature range between 293 K to 8 K or wider range.

2. The cryogenic SPM system shall operate at a pressure lower than 10-7 mbar; preferably lower than

10−9 mbar. Vacuum level specifications shall be provided for room temperature (≈ 293 K) and for the lowest cryogenic temperature attainable (8K or lower).

3. The cryogenic SPM system shall have a cryogenic hold time at the lower attainable temperature (8K or lower) of 66 h or longer.

4. The cryogenic SPM system shall have a cooling power > 250 mW, or of at least 100 mW in excess to the cooling power required to maintain the instrument at the lowest attainable temperature (8K or lower). This is required to dissipate the extra heat load introduced by laser sources during spectroscopic measurements.

c) Optical access specifications:

1. The cryogenic SPM system shall enable optical access to the tip-sample area from at least two optical ports with diameter of about 1 inch.

2. One optical port must be transparent from 0.6 µm to 100 µm or wider range.

3. One optical port must be transparent between 450 nm 1100nm or wider range.

4. At least one of the optical ports shall enable visualization of the tip-sample area with a high resolution digital camera.

d) PTIR, PiFM and s-SNOM specifications and scan stage specifications:

1. The cryogenic SPM system shall have a minimum AFM bandwidth of 1 MHz or higher.

2. The cryogenic SPM system must include a broadband parabolic mirror (1/2 inch diameter or wider) inside the cold space to enable achromatic focusing IR light to the tip-sample area in the spectral range from 0.6 µm to 100 µm or wider.

3. The parabolic mirror inside the cold space must be mounted on a on a motorized stage (3 axis preferred) enabling 4 mm or wider movement range per degree of freedom at ≈ 8K.

4. The cryogenic SPM system shall enable a coarse tip motion (2 mm x 2mm or wider range at low, ≈ 8K, temperature) parallel to the sample stage to facilitate the alignment of laser light with respect to the tip.

5. The cryogenic SPM system shall enable a coarse sample motion (5 mm x 5mm or wider range at low, ≈ 8K, temperature) parallel to the sample stage to locate the region of interest.

6. The cryogenic SPM system shall enable high resolution scan of the sample over 8 µm x 8 µm area or wider at low (≈ 8K) temperature. Values of the AFM resolution (xyz) and stability (nm/h) with such scan stage shall be provided.

e) STM-EL specifications:

1. For STM-EL shall perform STM imaging and spectroscopy with atomic resolution.

2. The cryogenic SPM system shall include a lens within the cold space with a numerical aperture

(NA) > 0.55 to enable efficient light collection from the tip-sample junction across a spectral range from 450 nm to 1100 nm or wider range.

3. The lens inside the cold space must be mounted on a motorized stage (3 axis preferred) enabling 4 mm or wider movement range per degree of freedom at temperatures < 8K.

4. The cryogenic SPM system shall enable a coarse tip motion (2 mm x 2mm or wider range at low, ≈ 8K, temperature) parallel to the sample stage to facilitate the alignment of light collection optics.

f) Additional specifications:

1. The Ability to integrate and add future capabilities (e.g., laser sources, spectrometers, fiber optics) and to conduct novel customized experiments is essential.

2. Availability of a digital hardware interface (shared boundary between the SPM cryogenic system and custom hardware and software to controls lasers and spectroscopy tools) is desirable, to exchange commands, information, data and to enable synchronization or measurements.

3. Please include shipping, installation, and training considerations in the responses.

(End of Specifications)

NIST is seeking responses from all responsible small businesses sources under the size standard of 750 employees associated with the applicable NAICS code, 334516 - Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing. Please include company’s size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice. Interested parties shall describe the capabilities of their organization as it relates to the services described herein.

Small Businesses able to provide such services are requested to email a detailed response describing their capabilities to rober.cowins@nist.gov no later than the response date for this source sought notice. The report should include any information relevant to the organization’s abilities to meet the requirements detailed in the Specifications. Also, the following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice:

1. Name of company/companies that are authorized provide product, their addresses, and a point of contact for the company (name, phone number, fax number and email address).

3. Number of days, after receipt of order that is typical for delivery of product.

4. Indication of whether the product is currently on one or more GSA Federal Supply Schedule contracts or any other government-wide contracts. If so, please provide the applicable contract number(s).

5. Indication of whether the product proposed is a commercial item currently offered in the market place.

6. Interested vendors shall address their capability of providing Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) parts.

7. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in developing its minimum performance requirements.

Responses are limited to a total of twelve (12) pages in MS Word or PDF format. NIST invites all interested small businesses to submit any questions or comments regarding the Summary of Requirements via email to robert.cowins@nist.gov within 2 calendar days of the posting of this notice. NIST intends to then post an amendment providing responses to any questions received. Official responses to the Sources Sought Notice shall be submitted by 02/17/2020 at 12:00 pm EST.

Point of Contact:

Robert Cowins, Contracting Officer, Phone 301-975-8335, Email: robert.cowins@nist.gov mailto:rober.cowins@nist.gov mailto:robert.cowins@nist.gov mailto:robert.cowins@nist.gov

Summary of Requirement: