BZ-2025-09 Prototype Wafers.pdf

LBNL Request for Information No. BZ-2025-09 Page 1

April 8, 2025

Subject: Request for Information (RFI) Number BZ-2025-09 Response Due Date: April 22, 2025

Introduction The University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) is conducting market research to identify sources that possess the capabilities and experience necessary to fabricate a small quantity of dies or wafers from a prototype design which are intended for enabling low-noise efficient cryogenic sensor processing and control.

Background Superconducting digital computing promises high compute throughput. LBNL is currently investigating potential scientific use cases for this technology and as such is interested in manufacturing prototypes.

Preliminary Specification LBNL intends to acquire a small quantity of dies or wafers (no more than 4 at this time) fabricated using the RSFQ superconducting logic family intended for 4K operation that uses Josephson Junctions (JJs).

The chips should be 5mm by 5mm and offer 40 I/O pads, not counting ground connections. At those dimensions the chip should fit about 10 thousand JJs. The fabrication process should offer a PDK library and ideally a cell library as well. It is preferable that the design be compatible with the Cadence EDA tools which LBNL has licensed.

This is an initial specification and subject to change.

NAICS Code and Size Standard The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code for this acquisition will be 334413 (Semiconductor and Related Device Manufacturing). The corresponding small business size standard is 1,250 or fewer employees.

Instructions Respondents who can demonstrate a proven record of delivering wafer fabrications of similar scope to the preliminary specifications above should email the LBNL Procurement Representative Brian Zatkow at bzatkow@lbl.gov with relevant company information. A list of similar previous jobs may be included, but contact information for previous customers is not required. Attachments or hyperlinks are both acceptable. Budgetary estimates are welcome but not necessary. All responses must be submitted by email no later than 3:00pm Pacific on Tuesday April 22, 2025.

Request for Information Only This RFI is for informational and planning purposes only. This is not a request for quote or proposal. It does not constitute a solicitation and shall not be construed as a commitment by the University. Responses in any form are not offers and no subcontract will be awarded as a result of this announcement. No mailto:bzatkow@lbl.gov

LBNL Request for Information No. BZ-2025-09 Page 2 inquiries regarding a bid package or solicitation will be answered, because there is no bid package or solicitation yet available. Any information submitted by respondents to this RFI is strictly voluntary.

In order to protect the procurement integrity of any future procurement that may arise from this RFI, information regarding the technical point of contact will not be given and no appointments for presentations will be made. No funds are available to pay for preparation of responses to this announcement, and no reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this RFI or any follow-up information requests related to this RFI. Responding to this RFI does not provide any advantage or disadvantage to potential offerors if LBNL chooses to issue a formal solicitation at a later date.

This Request for Information is governed by procurement policies and procedures established under the University's Prime Contract with the U.S. Government, represented by the Department of Energy, for management and operation of LBNL.

Proprietary Information Because information received in response to this RFI may be used to structure future programs and may be made available to the public, respondents must not include any information in their responses that might be considered business sensitive, proprietary, or otherwise confidential. Responses must be submitted with the understanding that their contents may be publicly disclosed and, in the event of a public disclosure, LBNL will not notify respondents or provide any opportunity to revise or redact submitted information.

Brian Zatkow LBNL Procurement Representative

(510) 495-2547 bzatkow@lbl.gov

(End of RFI document) mailto:bzatkow@lbl.gov

NAICS Code and Size Standard