DARPA-BAA-15-47_IRIS_PH3_Final_For_Posting_17July2015.pdf

Broad Agency Announcement

Integrity and Reliability of Integrated CircuitS (IRIS)

Phase III

Microsystems Technology Office

DARPA-BAA-15-47

July 17, 2015

Table of Contents

PART I: OVERVIEW INFORMATION

PART II: FULL TEXT OF ANNOUNCEMENT

I. Funding Opportunity Description A. Background B. Program Description C. Tasks D. Metrics E. Program Elements

1. Technical Area 1: FEOL Effects

2. Technical Area 2: BEOL Effects

3. Summary – Program Structure and Deliverables

II. Award Information III. Eligibility Information

F. Eligible Applicants G. Procurement Integrity, Standards of Conduct, Ethical Considerations, and

Organizational Conflicts of Interest C. Cost Sharing/Matching D. Other Eligibility Criteria

1. Collaborative Efforts IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address to Request Application Package B. Content and Form of Application Submission

1. Security Information

2. Proprietary Information

3. Proposal Submission Information

4. Full Proposal Format

5. Submission Dates and Times

6. Funding Restrictions

7. Other Submission Requirements

V. Application Review Information A. Evaluation Criteria B. Review and Selection Process

VI. Award Administration Information A. Selection Notices B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

1. Meeting and Travel Requirements

2. Human Subjects Research

3. Animal Use

4. Export Control

5. Subcontracting

6. Electronic and Information Technology

7. Employment Eligibility Verification

8. Reserved

9. System for Award Management (SAM) and Universal Identifier Requirements

10. Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards

11. Updates of Information Regarding Responsibility Matters

12. Representations by Corporations Regarding an Unpaid Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction under any Federal Law

13. Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) Notices and Certification

14. Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) on Non-DoD Information Systems

15. Safeguarding of Unclassified Controlled Technical Information

C. Reporting D. Electronic Systems

1. Representations and Certifications

2. Wide Area Work Flow (WAWF)

3. i-Edison

VII. Agency Contacts VIII. Other Information

A. Intellectual Property Procurement Contract Proposers

1. Noncommercial Items (Technical Data and Computer Software)

2. Commercial Items (Technical Data and Computer Software)

B. Non-Procurement Contract Proposers – Noncommercial and Commercial Items (Technical Data and Computer Software)

C. All Proposers – Patents D. All Proposers – Intellectual Property Representations E. Other Transactions (OTs):

PART I: OVERVIEW INFORMATION

Federal Agency Name – Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Microsystems Technology Office (MTO)

Funding Opportunity Title – Integrity and Reliability of Integrated CircuitS (IRIS) Announcement Type – Initial Announcement Funding Opportunity Number – DARPA-BAA-15-47 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers (CFDA) – 12.910 Dates o Posting Date: July 17, 2015 o Proposers Day: July 20, 2015, Arlington, VA o Proposal Due Date: September 4, 2015 (4:00 PM Eastern) o Estimated period of performance start: January 2016

Concise description of the funding opportunity: DARPA is soliciting research proposals for a comprehensive exploration of the effects of extreme physical stresses on wear-out and aging mechanisms in CMOS FETs at 28nm and/or 14nm lithography node.

The objective of the IRIS Program Phase III is to explore aging effects in both transistors and transistor interconnects to create predictive models and to test how precisely and rapidly specific wear-out mechanisms can be asserted, for the purposes of accelerating burn-in, aging, and wear-out.

Anticipated individual awards – Multiple awards are anticipated.

Anticipated funding type - 6.2 Types of instruments that may be awarded – Procurement contract, grant, cooperative agreement or other transaction.

Any cost sharing requirements – None.

Agency contact o Mr. Kerry Bernstein, Program Manager BAA Coordinator: DARPA-BAA-15-47@darpa.mil

DARPA/MTO

ATTN: DARPA-BAA-15-47

675 North Randolph Street Arlington, VA 22203-2114

PROPOSERS ARE CAUTIONED THAT EVALUATION RATINGS MAY BE LOWERED

AND/OR PROPOSALS REJECTED IF PROPOSAL PREPARATION (PROPOSAL FORMAT,

CONTENT, ETC.) AND/OR SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS ARE NOT FOLLOWED.

THOSE INTENDING TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL FOR AN ASSISTANCE INSTRUMENT

(GRANT OR COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT) ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO READ

THE INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED AT SECTION IV(B)(4) REGARDING THE TIME

REQUIRED TO RECEIVE VALIDATION OF SUBMISSIONS MADE THROUGH

GRANTS.GOV. PROPOSALS THAT ARE VALIDATED AFTER THE PROPOSAL DUE

DATE/TIME WILL BE CONSIDERED LATE AND, AS SUCH, WILL NOT BE REVIEWED.

PART II: FULL TEXT OF ANNOUNCEMENT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency often selects its research efforts through the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) process. This BAA is being issued, and any resultant selection will be made, using procedures under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 35.016 and the Department of Defense Grant and Agreement Regulatory System (DoDGARS) Part 22 for Grants and Cooperative Agreements. Any negotiations and/or awards will use procedures under FAR 15.4, Contract Pricing, as specified in the BAA (including DoDGARS Part 22 for Grants and Cooperative Agreements). Proposals received as a result of this BAA shall be evaluated in accordance with evaluation criteria specified herein through a scientific review process.

DARPA BAAs are posted on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website, http://www.fbo.gov/, and, as applicable, the Grants.gov website at http://www.grants.gov/. The following information is for those wishing to respond to the BAA.

DARPA is soliciting R&D activity that will involve the modeling and simulation of stress-induced aging and wearout of digital as well as mixed signal CMOS electronic components. This opportunity solicits ideas for accelerating the onset of these mechanisms with extreme stress in order to realize these effects in a shorter period of time in order to improve reliability testing turn-around time and to understand the impact of high stress environments on conventional components.

Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in science, devices, and/or systems. Specifically excluded is research that results primarily in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice.

A. Background

DoD acquisition models rely heavily on Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) integrated circuits or parts to produce military systems. Many of the parts must be used in an environment unanticipated by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). COTS parts are tested by the OEM to ensure reliability under commercial environments but testing is not necessarily conclusive for the operational requirements of DoD electronic systems.

DARPA currently has a program, Integrity and Reliability of Integrated circuitS (IRIS), developing technologies to address many of the critical problems necessary to insure integrity and reliability in integrated circuits. IRIS Phase I and Phase II made significant breakthroughs towards rapidly evaluating the reliability of CMOS ICs, but by the conclusion of Phase II, the final time to evaluate goal was not met. Performers lacked the ability and knowledge to quickly and controllably degrade ICs without introducing unintended physical defects unrelated to operational end of life. These limitations hampered the performers’ ability to meet the time to evaluate goals and test the viability of tools that were developed and transitioned at the end of the Phase II.

IRIS Phase III will focus on controllably reducing the time to degrade CMOS IC’s by investigating the physical mechanisms of failure and developing models for rapid degradation at the 28nm and 14nm lithography nodes. Phase III will also seek methods to decouple the physical mechanisms of failure, limiting unintended physical defects when rapidly degrading CMOS ICs. By investigating rapid degradation the IRIS program will be able to fully evaluate and utilize the technology developed under Phase II.

B. Program Description

DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals for the Integrity and Reliability of Integrated circuitS (IRIS) program that will investigate the effects of extreme physical stresses on wear-out and aging mechanisms in CMOS components fabricated in technologies at the 28nm and/or 14nm lithography node. Performers will explore effects in both Front End Of Line (FEOL) and Back End Of Line (BEOL) to create predictive models and to test how precisely specific wear-out mechanisms can be asserted.

Traditional stressing and “burn-in” of electronic components to assure their reliability occurs along three axes varying Vdd, temperature, and time, up to a maximum stress condition shown in Figure 1.

Typically parts are not subject to values of Vdd >150%, temperature > 140oC, or time > 5 hours at any time during stressing, testing, or operation.

Figure 1 shows the graphical representation of the state space limits for traditional OEM screening.

The goal of this investigation will be to explore the operating space outside of conventional stress’ parametric testing values, for the purposes of accelerating burn-in, aging, and wear-out. Performers will develop and utilize predictive models to determine optimum parametric values necessary to invoke and deconvolve specific wear out presentations, which are decoupled from other possible mechanisms.

Mechanisms of interest to the IRIS program can be grouped into two broad categories.

1. Front End of Line (FEOL) physical effects specifically relate to physical changes to the CMOS FET. FEOL effects include, but are not limited to, hot carrier injection, impact ionization, negative and positive bias temperature instability, prompt shift, gate oxide time dependent dielectric breakdown (GO-TDDB), and ionics.

2. Back End of Line (BEOL) physical effects relate to physical changes to chip interconnects (1X, 2X, 4X, 8X and 16X λ wiring layers). BEOL effects of interest include but are not limited to electromigration, stress migration, Cu corrosion, dendrite growth, whiskers, and intra/inter-layer TDDB.

Figure 1: Traditional OEM Testing Boundaries

It is expected that better understanding of FEOL and BEOL mechanisms under unusual stress conditions that might be encountered by DoD systems outside of the traditional parametric testing boundaries will provide great benefit. Besides leading to more effectively exposing IC defects that could otherwise cause catastrophic system failure, it is also expected that this could lead to novel methods of accelerating aging mechanisms for parts fielded in DoD systems. It is critical to ensure that part lifetimes are consistent with the expected 100,000 power-on hours goal for fielded systems in applications where high reliability is demanded.

C. Tasks

The IRIS Phase III effort consists of two technical areas each broken into two subphases.

Proposers may respond to one or both technical areas in a single proposal and must clearly specify the technical area(s) addressed in the proposal. Proposers must provide a plan for achieving the program goals over both subphases for each technical area that they respond to.

Technical Area 1 – FEOL Effects

Subphase A (12 Months) It is envisioned that performers will develop physics-based models that accurately predict FEOL physical effects in IC’s at the 28nm and/or 14nm node, for application in Sub-phase B. FEOL effects to be considered include but are not limited to:

Hot carrier injection

Impact ionization

Negative bias temperature instability

Positive bias temperature instability

Prompt shift

Gate Oxide Time dependent dielectric breakdown (GO-TDDB)

Ionics Front end physical models should accurately anticipate the influence of temperature, voltage and pattern dependence on:

Time to Failure - in thousands of power-on-hours (KPOH) Lifetime at stress conditions which exceed the valid application domain of current reliability models Precision of developed models including probability density function, statistical variance and standard deviation of measurements

Conventional tools such as RelExpert, Mathematica, MathCAD, or Microsoft Excel should be used in the assessment of the physics involved. The program does not require or expect development of software tools or EDA.

Subphase B (18 Months) It is preferred that performers utilize physics-based predictive models to develop application rules for invoking the FEOL and physical effects explored during SubPhase A.

Application rules should include:

Conditions and measurements of fastest safe acceleration of coupled aging mechanisms Conditions and measurements of fastest safe acceleration of decoupled (isolated) specific ageing mechanisms

It is expected that performers’ models / reliability predictions will de-convolve the independent effects upon aging such as:

Temperature Humidity Voltage Activity factor / duty cycle / pattern dependence Layout geometry

Applications rules will be tested by performers on test articles at the 28nm and/or 14nm node.

Performers should plan to generate and provide their own test articles as needed based upon their specific plan of research, although the Government may provide additional limited test articles upon request if it is deemed of benefit to the program.

Technical Area 2 – BEOL Effects

Subphase A (12 Months) It is desired that performers develop physics-based models which accurately predict BEOL physical effects in IC’s for chip interconnects (1X, 2X, 4X, 8X and 16X λ wiring layers) for application in Sub-phase B. BEOL effects to be considered include but are not limited to:

Electromigration

Stress Migration

Cu corrosion

Dendrite growth

Whiskers

Intralayer TDDB

Interlayer TDDB Back end physical models should accurately predict:

Time to Failure - in thousands of power-on-hours (KPOH) Lifetime at stress conditions which exceed the valid application domain of current reliability models Precision of developed models including probability density function, statistical variance and standard deviation of measurements

Conventional tools such as RelExpert, Mathematica, MathCAD, or Microsoft Excel should be used in the assessment of the physics involved. The program does not require or expect development of software tools or EDA.

Subphase B (18 Months)

It is hoped that performers will utilize physics-based predictive models to develop application rules for invoking BEOL and physical effects.

Application rules should include:

Conditions and measurements of fastest safe acceleration of coupled aging mechanisms Conditions and measurements of fastest safe acceleration of decoupled (isolated) specific ageing mechanisms

It is preferred that performers’ models / reliability predictions will de-convolve the independent effects upon aging such as:

Temperature Humidity Voltage Activity factor / duty cycle / pattern dependence Layout geometry

Applications rules will be tested by performers on test articles at the 28nm and/or 14nm node.

Performers will be expected to generate and provide their own test articles as needed based upon their specific plan of research, although the Government may provide additional limited test articles upon request if it is deemed of benefit to the program.

D. Metrics

A US Government oversight team will provide analysis of team deliverables, and will validate each team’s models, predictions, and physical presentations. For evaluation there will be three general metrics that will be measured: Mean Time to Failure (MTTF), Failures in Time (FITs), and Model Prediction Accuracy. The following quantitative metrics and goals will be used by the Government as targets and to assess research results.

Mean Time to Failure (MTTF) o T<1 Power-on-Hour (“POH”) accelerated/aged, o 100,000 POH unaccelerated

Failures in Time (FITs): (accelerated), 3ppm (unaccelerated)

Model prediction accuracy (for each physical effect):

o Time: +/-10% by end of Subphase A, +/-05% by end of Subphase B o Probability of expected effects: >90% by end of Subphase A, >95% by end of

Subphase B o Probability of unexpected effects: : <10% by end of Subphase A, <05% by end of

Subphase B o Parametric electrical presentation values: +/-10% by end of Subphase A, +/-05% by end of Subphase B

It should be possible to derive these metrics from measurement data and models. Proposers should specify in the proposal, in detail, the metrics that will be used to measure improvements realized in the IRIS program. The metrics are intended to measure the value and general progress of the proposer’s approach and therefore the proposer is free to define any other additional metrics they may identify to demonstrate the efficacy of their results. The metrics defined by the proposer should be consistent with standard industry usage and with the IRIS Phase III program goals.

E. Program Elements

1. Technical Area 1: FEOL Effects

Subphase A: Required Program Elements (12 Months)

Development of physics-based models to accurately predict FEOL physical effects in IC’s at the 28nm and/or 14nm node.

Subphase B: Required Program Elements (18 Months)

Development of application rules for predicting FEOL effects.

Testing of FEOL application rules on IC’s at the 28nm and/or 14nm node.

Performers have the option of either proposing the development of dedicated test hardware or using existing test structures in this task.

2. Technical Area 2: BEOL Effects

Subphase A: Required Program Elements (12 Months)

Development of physics-based models to accurately predict BEOL physical effects in IC’s at the 28nm and/or 14nm node.

Subphase B: Required Program Elements (18 Months) Development of application rules for predicting FEOL effects.

Testing of FEOL application rules on IC’s at the 28nm and/or 14nm node.

Performers have the option of either proposing the development of dedicated test hardware or using existing test structures in this task.

3. Summary – Program Structure and Deliverables

Total program not to exceed 30 months. Proposals must address works in both subphases A and B. Efforts that should be accomplished in Subphases A and B are described in Table 1 below. The desired schedule for accomplishing subphases A and B are shown in Table 2 below.

Table 1: IRIS Technology Development

Technical Area 1 --FEOL Effects Milestones and Deliverables

Subphase A Definition and FEOL physics based model

12 months (base) End of Subphase report detailing model description and simulation results against metrics

Subphase B 18 months (option)

Development of FEOL application rules for model testing Model testing against metrics with physical ICs End of Subphase report detailing measurement results

Technical Area 2 - BEOL Effects Milestones and Deliverables

Subphase A 12 months (base)

Definition and BEOL physics based model End of Subphase report detailing model description and simulation results against metrics Subphase B 18 months (option)

Development of BEOL application rules for model testing.

Model testing against metrics with physical ICs End of Subphase report detailing measurement results

Proposers are encouraged to offer additional milestones and deliverables based upon their specific approach to realizing required research goals.

Table 2: IRIS Schedule

Technical Area 1 –

Technical Area 2 -

Government review of results at the end of Subphase A will determine which performers will be allowed to continue their works into Subphase B.

Review Meetings:

It is anticipated that four principal investigator (PI) meetings will be held each year for each performer at roughly three month intervals, with the first PI meeting occurring at program initiation. Difficulties encountered and possible solutions will be discussed. The goals of the PI meetings will be to: (a) review program activities and overall program progress; (b) review innovations / accomplishments; (c) discuss funding and programmatics; and (d) plan for the next three month period.

The locations for these program reviews, coordination and technical interchanges, PI meetings, and other events will be specified by the Government. In general, for budgeting travel, assume the following schedule:

Subphase A

Y1Q1: Program Kickoff Y1Q2: Quarterly Program Review Y1Q3: Quarterly Program Review Y1Q4: Subphase A PI review (with all performers present)

Subphase B

Y2Q1: Quarterly Program Review Y2Q2: Quarterly Program Review Y2Q3: Quarterly Program Review Y2Q4: Subphase B PI review (with all performers present) Y3Q1: Quarterly Program Review Y3Q2: Quarterly Program Review Y3Q3: Program Completion PI review (with all performers present)

The locations of any detailed performer program reviews will be held at the performer’s location.

In addition, the Government may choose to conduct more frequent teleconferences depending on program status or developments. Additional teleconference meetings may be necessary if important issues arise between planned program meetings.

Subphase PI reviews will be held periodically (as indicated) to provide an opportunity for performers to share program results with each other and the oversight team. For planning purposes these meetings will be held alternately at east and west coast locations, although depending on the location of selected performers, the geographical locations and timing are subject to change as deemed necessary by the Government.

II. Award Information

Multiple awards are anticipated. The amount of resources made available under this BAA will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds.

The Government reserves the right to select for negotiation all, some, one, or none of the proposals received in response to this solicitation, and to make awards without discussions with proposers. The Government also reserves the right to conduct discussions if it is later determined to be necessary. If warranted, portions of resulting awards may be segregated into pre-priced options. Additionally, DARPA reserves the right to accept proposals in their entirety or to select only portions of proposals for award. In the event that DARPA desires to award only portions of a proposal, negotiations may be opened with that proposer. The Government reserves the right to fund proposals in phases with options for continued work at the end of one or more of the phases.

Awards under this BAA will be made to proposers on the basis of the evaluation criteria listed below (see section labeled “Application Review Information”, Sec. V.), and program balance to provide overall value to the Government. The Government reserves the right to request any additional, necessary documentation once it makes the award instrument determination. Such additional information may include but is not limited to Representations and Certifications. The

Government reserves the right to remove proposers from award consideration should the parties fail to reach agreement on award terms, conditions and cost/price within a reasonable time or the proposer fails to timely provide requested additional information. Proposals identified for negotiation may result in a procurement contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or other transaction, depending upon the nature of the work proposed, the required degree of interaction between parties, whether or not the research is classified as Fundamental Research, and other factors.

In all cases, the Government contracting officer shall have sole discretion to select award instrument type and to negotiate all instrument terms and conditions with selectees. Proposers are advised that if they propose grants or cooperative agreements, DARPA may select other award instruments, as it deems appropriate. DARPA will apply publication or other restrictions, as necessary, if it determines that the research resulting from the proposed effort will present a high likelihood of disclosing performance characteristics of military systems or manufacturing technologies that are unique and critical to defense. Any award resulting from such a determination will include a requirement for DARPA permission before publishing any information or results on the program. For more information on publication restrictions, see the section below on Fundamental Research.

Fundamental Research

It is DoD policy that the publication of products of fundamental research will remain unrestricted to the maximum extent possible. National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) 189 established the national policy for controlling the flow of scientific, technical, and engineering information produced in federally funded fundamental research at colleges, universities, and laboratories. The Directive defines fundamental research as follows:

'Fundamental research' means basic and applied research in science and engineering, the results of which ordinarily are published and shared broadly within the scientific community, as distinguished from proprietary research and from industrial development, design, production, and product utilization, the results of which ordinarily are restricted for proprietary or national security reasons.

As of the date of publication of this BAA, the Government expects that program goals as described herein may be met by proposers intending to perform fundamental research. The Government does not anticipate applying publication restrictions of any kind to individual awards for fundamental research that may result from this BAA. Notwithstanding this statement of expectation, the Government is not prohibited from considering and selecting research proposals that, while perhaps not qualifying as fundamental research under the foregoing definition, still meet the BAA criteria for submissions. If proposals are selected for award that offer other than a fundamental research solution, the Government will either work with the proposer to modify the proposed statement of work to bring the research back into line with fundamental research or else the proposer will agree to restrictions in order to receive an award.

Proposers should indicate in their proposal whether they believe the scope of the research included in their proposal is fundamental or not. While proposers should clearly explain the intended results of their research, the Government shall have sole discretion to select award instrument type and to negotiate all instrument terms and conditions with selectees. Appropriate clauses will be included in resultant awards for non-fundamental research to prescribe publication requirements and other restrictions, as appropriate.

For certain research projects, it may be possible that although the research being performed by the prime contractor is restricted research, a subawardee may be conducting contracted fundamental research. In those cases, it is the prime contractor’s responsibility to explain in its proposal why its subawardee’s effort is contracted fundamental research.

The following statement or similar provision will be incorporated into any resultant non-fundamental research procurement contract or other transaction:

“There shall be no dissemination or publication, except within and between the contractor and any subawardees, of information developed under this contract or contained in the reports to be furnished pursuant to this contract without prior written approval of DARPA’s Public Release Center (DARPA/PRC). All technical reports will be given proper review by appropriate authority to determine which Distribution Statement is to be applied prior to the initial distribution of these reports by the contractor. With regard to subawardee proposals for Contracted Fundamental Research, papers resulting from unclassified contracted fundamental research are exempt from prepublication controls and this review requirement, pursuant to DoD Instruction 5230.27 dated October 6, 1987.

When submitting material for written approval for open publication, the contractor/awardee must submit a request for public release to the DARPA/PRC and include the following information: (1) Document Information: document title, document author, short plain-language description of technology discussed in the material (approx.

30 words), number of pages (or minutes of video) and document type (e.g., briefing, report, abstract, article, or paper); (2) Event Information: event type (conference, principal investigator meeting, article or paper), event date, desired date for DARPA's approval; (3) DARPA Sponsor: DARPA Program Manager, DARPA office, and contract number; and (4) Contractor/Awardee's Information: POC name, email and phone. Allow four weeks for processing; due dates under four weeks require a justification. Unusual electronic file formats may require additional processing time. Requests may be sent either via email to prc@darpa.mil or by mail at 675 North Randolph Street, Arlington VA 22203-2114, telephone (571) 218-4235. Refer to the following for link for information about DARPA’s public release process: http://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/contract-management/public-release.”

III. Eligibility Information

All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal that shall be considered by DARPA.

F. Eligible Applicants

Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) and Government entities (e.g., Government/National laboratories, military educational institutions, etc.) are subject to applicable direct competition limitations and cannot propose to this BAA in any capacity unless they meet the following conditions: (1) FFRDCs must clearly demonstrate that the proposed work is not otherwise available from the private sector; and (2) FFRDCs must provide a letter on official letterhead from their sponsoring organization citing the specific authority establishing their eligibility to propose to Government solicitations and compete with industry, and their compliance with the associated FFRDC sponsor agreement and terms and conditions. This information is required for FFRDCs proposing to be prime contractors or subawardees.

Government entities must clearly demonstrate that the work is not otherwise available from the private sector and provide written documentation citing the specific statutory authority and contractual authority, if relevant, establishing their ability to propose to Government solicitations. At the present time, DARPA does not consider 15 U.S.C. § 3710a to be sufficient legal authority to show eligibility. While 10 U.S.C.§ 2539b may be the appropriate statutory starting point for some entities, specific supporting regulatory guidance, together with evidence of agency approval, will still be required to fully establish eligibility. DARPA will consider FFRDC eligibility submissions on a case-by-case basis; however, the burden to prove eligibility for all team members rests solely with the proposer.

Non-U.S. organizations and/or individuals may participate to the extent that such participants comply with any necessary nondisclosure agreements, security regulations, export control laws, and other governing statutes applicable under the circumstances.

G. Procurement Integrity, Standards of Conduct, Ethical Considerations, and Organizational Conflicts of Interest

Current federal employees are prohibited from participating in particular matters involving conflicting financial, employment, and representational interests (18 U.S.C. §§ 203, 205, and 208). Once the proposals have been received, and prior to the start of proposal evaluations, the Government will assess potential conflicts of interest and will promptly notify the proposer if any appear to exist. The Government assessment does NOT affect, offset, or mitigate the proposer’s responsibility to give full notice and planned mitigation for all potential organizational conflicts, as discussed below.

Without prior approval or a waiver from the DARPA Director, in accordance with FAR 9.503, a contractor cannot simultaneously provide scientific, engineering, technical assistance (SETA) or similar support and also be a technical performer. As part of the proposal submission, all members of the proposed team (prime proposers, proposed subawardees, and consultants) must affirm whether they (their organizations and individual team members) are providing SETA or similar support to any DARPA technical office(s) through an active contract or subcontract. All affirmations must state which office(s) the proposer, subawardees, consultant, or individual supports and identify the prime contract number(s). All facts relevant to the existence or potential existence of organizational conflicts of interest (FAR 9.5) must be disclosed. The disclosure must include a description of the action the proposer has taken or proposes to take to avoid, neutralize, or mitigate such conflict. If in the sole opinion of the Government after full consideration of the circumstances, a proposal fails to fully disclose potential conflicts of interest and/or any identified conflict situation cannot be effectively mitigated, the proposal will be rejected without technical evaluation and withdrawn from further consideration for award.

If a prospective proposer believes a conflict of interest exists or may exist (whether organizational or otherwise) or has questions on what constitutes a conflict of interest, the proposer should send his/her contact information and a summary of the potential conflict via email to the BAA email address before time and effort are expended in preparing a proposal and mitigation plan.

C. Cost Sharing/Matching

Cost sharing is not required; however, it will be carefully considered where there is an applicable statutory condition relating to the selected funding instrument (e.g., for any Other Transactions under the authority of 10 U.S.C. § 2371). Cost sharing is encouraged where there is a reasonable probability of a potential commercial application related to the proposed research and development effort.

D. Other Eligibility Criteria

1. Collaborative Efforts

Collaborative efforts/teaming are encouraged.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address to Request Application Package

This solicitation contains all information required to submit a proposal. No additional forms, kits, or other materials are needed. This notice constitutes the total BAA solicitation. No additional information is available, except as provided at FBO.gov or Grants.gov, nor will a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) or additional solicitation regarding this announcement be issued. Requests for the same will be disregarded.

B. Content and Form of Application Submission

DARPA policy is to treat all submissions as source selection information (see FAR 2.101 and 3.104), and to disclose their contents only for the purpose of evaluation. Restrictive notices notwithstanding, during the evaluation process, submissions may be handled by support contractors for administrative purposes and/or to assist with technical evaluation. All DARPA support contractors performing this role are expressly prohibited from performing DARPA-sponsored technical research and are bound by appropriate nondisclosure agreements.

Submissions will not be returned. The original of each submission received will be retained at DARPA and all other non-required copies destroyed. A certification of destruction may be requested, provided the formal request is received at this office within 5 days after unsuccessful notification.

1. Security Information

Classified submissions shall be transmitted in accordance with the following guidance.

Additional information on the subjects discussed in this section may be found at http://www.dss.mil/.

If a submission contains Classified National Security Information as defined by Executive Order 13526, the information must be appropriately and conspicuously marked with the proposed classification level and declassification date. Similarly, when the classification of a submission is in question, the submission must be appropriately and conspicuously marked with the proposed classification level and declassification date. Submissions requiring DARPA to make a final classification determination shall be marked as follows:

“CLASSIFICATION DETERMINATION PENDING. Protect as though classified____________________________(insert the recommended classification level, e.g., Top Secret, Secret or Confidential)”

NOTE: Classified submissions must indicate the classification level of not only the submitted materials, but also the classification level of the anticipated award.

Proposers submitting classified information must have, or be able to obtain prior to contract award, cognizant security agency approved facilities, information systems, and appropriately cleared/eligible personnel to perform at the classification level proposed. All proposer personnel performing Information Assurance (IA)/Cybersecurity related duties on classified Information Systems shall meet the requirements set forth in DoD Manual 8570.01-M (Information Assurance Workforce Improvement Program).

Proposers choosing to submit classified information from other collateral classified sources (i.e., sources other than DARPA) must ensure (1) they have permission from an authorized individual at the cognizant Government agency (e.g., Contracting Officer, Program Manager); (2) the proposal is marked in accordance with the source Security Classification Guide (SCG) from which the material is derived; and (3) the source SCG is submitted along with the proposal.

DARPA anticipates that submissions received under this BAA will be unclassified. However, should a proposer wish to submit classified information, an unclassified email must be sent to the BAA mailbox requesting submission instructions from the Technical Office PSO.

Security classification guidance and direction via a Security Classification Guide (SCG) and/or DD Form 254, “DoD Contract Security Classification Specification,” will not be provided at this time, since DARPA is soliciting ideas only. If a determination is made that the award instrument may result in access to classified information, a SCG and/or DD Form 254 will be issued by DARPA and attached as part of the award.

Confidential and Secret Information

Use transmission, classification, handling, and marking guidance provided by previously issued SCGs, the DoD Information Security Manual (DoDM 5200.01, Volumes 1 - 4), and the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual, including the Supplement Revision 1, (DoD 5220.22-M and DoD 5200.22-M Sup. 1) when submitting Confidential and/or Secret classified information.

Confidential and Secret classified information may be submitted via ONE of the two following methods:

Hand-carried by an appropriately cleared and authorized courier to the DARPA CDR.

Prior to traveling, the courier shall contact the DARPA Classified Document Registry (CDR) at 703-526-4052 to coordinate arrival and delivery.

OR

Mailed via U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Registered Mail or USPS Express Mail. All classified information will be enclosed in opaque inner and outer covers and double-wrapped. The inner envelope shall be sealed and plainly marked with the assigned classification and addresses of both sender and addressee.

The inner envelope shall be addressed to:

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ATTN: Kerry Bernstein Reference: DARPA-BAA-15-47

The outer envelope shall be sealed with no identification as to the classification of its contents and addressed to:

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Security & Intelligence Directorate, Attn: CDR

Top Secret Information Use classification, handling, and marking guidance provided by previously issued SCGs, the DoD Information Security Manual (DoDM 5200.01, Volumes 1 - 4), and the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual, including the Supplement Revision 1, (DoD 5220.22-M and DoD 5200.22-M Sup. 1). Top Secret information must be hand-carried by an appropriately cleared and authorized courier to the DARPA CDR. Prior to traveling, the courier shall contact the DARPA CDR at 703-526-4052 to coordinate arrival and delivery.

Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI)

SCI must be marked, managed and transmitted in accordance with DoDM 5105.21 Volumes 1

- 3. Questions regarding the transmission of SCI may be sent to the DARPA Technical Office PSO via the BAA mailbox or by contacting the DARPA Special Security Officer (SSO) at 703- 812-1970.

Successful proposers may be sponsored by DARPA for access to SCI. Sponsorship must be aligned to an existing DD Form 254 where SCI has been authorized. Questions regarding SCI sponsorship should be directed to the DARPA Personnel Security Office at 703-526-4543.

Special Access Program (SAP) Information SAP information must be marked in accordance with DoDM 5205.07 Volume 4 and transmitted by specifically approved methods which will be provided by the Technical Office PSO or their staff.

Proposers choosing to submit SAP information from an agency other than DARPA are required to provide the DARPA Technical Office Program Security Officer (PSO) written permission from the source material’s cognizant Special Access Program Control Officer (SAPCO) or designated representative. For clarification regarding this process, contact the DARPA Technical Office PSO via the BAA mailbox or the DARPA SAPCO at 703-526-4102.

Additional SAP security requirements regarding facility accreditations, information security, personnel security, physical security, operations security, test security, classified transportation plans, and program protection planning may be specified in the DD Form 254.

NOTE: prior to drafting the submission, if use of SAP Information Systems is to be proposed, proposers must first obtain an Authorization-to-Operate from the DARPA Technical Office PSO (or other applicable DARPA Authorization Official) using the Risk Management Framework (RMF) process outlined in the Joint Special Access Program (SAP) Implementation Guide (JSIG), Revision 3, dated October 9, 2013 (or successor document).

2. Proprietary Information

Proposers are responsible for clearly identifying proprietary information. Submissions containing proprietary information must have the cover page and each page containing such information clearly marked with a label such as “Proprietary” or “Company Proprietary.” Note, “Confidential” is a classification marking used to control the dissemination of U.S. Government National Security Information as dictated in Executive Order 13526 and should not be used to identify proprietary business information.

3. Proposal Submission Information

The typical proposal should express a consolidated effort in support of one or more related technical concepts or ideas. Disjointed efforts should not be included into a single proposal.

Proposals and abstracts may not be submitted by fax or e-mail; any so sent will be disregarded.

For All:

All administrative correspondence and questions on this solicitation, including requests for information on how to submit a full proposal to this BAA should be directed to DARPA-BAA-15-47@darpa.mil. DARPA intends to use electronic mail for correspondence regarding DARPA-BAA-15-47. DARPA encourages use of the Internet for retrieving the BAA and any other related information that may subsequently be provided.

For Proposers Requesting Grants or Cooperative Agreements:

Proposers requesting grants or cooperative agreements may submit proposals through one of the following methods: (1) hard copy mailed directly to DARPA; or (2) electronic upload per the instructions at http://www.grants.gov/applicants/apply_for_grants.jsp. Grant or cooperative agreement proposals may not be submitted through any other means. If proposers intend to use Grants.gov as their means of submission, then they must submit their entire proposal through Grants.gov; applications cannot be submitted in part to Grants.gov and in part as a hard-copy.

Proposers using the Grants.gov APPLY do not submit paper proposals in addition to the Grants.gov APPLY electronic submission.

Grants.gov requires proposers to complete a one-time registration process before a proposal can be electronically submitted. If proposers have not previously registered, this process can take between three business days and four weeks. See the Grants.gov registration checklist at http://www.grants.gov/documents/19/18243/OrganizationRegChecklist.pdf for registration requirements and instructions.

Once Grants.gov has received a proposal submission, Grants.gov will send two email messages to advise proposers as to whether or not their proposals have been validated or rejected by the system; IT MAY TAKE UP TO TWO DAYS TO RECEIVE THESE EMAILS. The first email will confirm receipt of the proposal by the Grants.gov system; this email only confirms receipt, not acceptance, of the proposal. The second will indicate that the application has been successfully validated by the system prior to transmission to the grantor agency or has been rejected due to errors. If the proposal is validated, then the proposer has successfully submitted their proposal. If the proposal is rejected, the proposed must be corrected and resubmitted before DARPA can retrieve it. If the solicitation is no longer open, the rejected proposal cannot be resubmitted. Once the proposal is retrieved by DARPA, the proposer will receive a third email from Grants.gov. To avoid missing deadlines, proposers should submit their proposals in advance of the final proposal due date with sufficient time to receive confirmations and correct any errors in the submission process through Grants.gov. For more information on submitting proposals to Grants.gov, visit the Grants.gov submissions page at:

http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/apply-for-grants.html.

Proposers electing to submit grant or cooperative agreement proposals as hard copies must complete the SF 424 R&R form (Application for Federal Assistance, Research and Related) available on the Grants.gov website http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms/sample/RR_SF424_2_0-V2.0.pdf Technical support for Grants.gov submissions may be reached at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov.

For Proposers Requesting Contracts or Other Transaction Agreements:

Proposers requesting contracts or other transaction agreements must submit proposals via DARPA's BAA Website (https://baa.darpa.mil). Visit the website to complete the two-step registration process. Submitters will need to register for an Extranet account (via the form at the URL listed above) and wait for two separate e-mails containing a username and temporary password. After accessing the Extranet, submitters may then create an account for the DARPA BAA website (via the "Register your Organization" link along the left side of the homepage), view submission instructions, and upload/finalize the proposal. Proposers using the DARPA BAA Website may encounter heavy traffic on the submission deadline date; it is highly advised that submission process be started as early as possible. Classified submissions and proposals requesting assistance instruments (grants or cooperative agreements) should NOT be submitted through DARPA's BAA Website (https://baa.darpa.mil), though proposers will likely still need to visit https://baa.darpa.mil to register their organization (or verify an existing registration) to ensure the BAA office can verify and finalize their submission.

All full proposals submitted electronically through the DARPA BAA Submission website must be uploaded as zip files (.zip or .zipx extension). The final zip file should only contain the document(s) requested herein and must not exceed 50 MB in size. Only one zip file will be accepted per full proposal and full proposals not uploaded as zip files will be rejected by

DARPA.

Technical support for DARPA's BAA Website may be reached at action@darpa.mil, and is typically available during regular business hours (9:00 AM - 5:00 PM EST, Monday - Friday).

NOTE: YOU MUST CLICK THE ‘FINALIZE FULL PROPOSAL’ BUTTON AT THE

BOTTOM OF THE CREATE FULL PROPOSAL PAGE. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL

RESULT IN YOUR PROPOSAL NOT BEING OFFICIALLY SUBMITTED TO THIS BAA

AND THEREFORE NOT BEING REVIEWED.

4. Full Proposal Format

All full proposals must be in the format given below. Proposals shall consist of two volumes:

Volume I – Technical and Management Proposal, and Volume II – Cost Proposal. All pages shall be printed on 8-1/2 by 11 inch paper with type not smaller than 12 point. Smaller font may be used for figures, tables and charts. The page limitation for full proposals includes all figures, tables, and charts. Volume I, Technical and Management Proposal, may include an attached bibliography of relevant technical papers or research notes (published and unpublished) which document the technical ideas and approach upon which the proposal is based. Copies of not more than three (3) relevant papers may be included with the submission. The bibliography and attached papers are not included in the page counts given below. The submission of other supporting materials along with the proposals is strongly discouraged and will not be considered for review. Full proposals, (consisting of Section II of Volume I, Technical and Management Proposal), shall not exceed 50 pages. This page limitation applies to proposals responding to one and to both technical areas. All full proposals must be written in English.

a. Volume I, Technical and Management Proposal

Section I. Administrative

A. Cover sheet to include:

(1) BAA number (DARPA-BAA-15-47);

(2) Technical area(s);

(3) Lead Organization submitting proposal;

(4) Type of organization, selected among the following categories: “LARGE

ORGANIZATION”, “SMALL DISADVANTAGED ORGANIZATION”, “OTHER

SMALL ORGANIZATION”, “HBCU”, “MI”, “OTHER EDUCATIONAL”, OR

“OTHER NONPROFIT”;

(5) Proposer’s reference number (if any);

(6) Other team members (if applicable) and type of organization for each;

(7) Proposal title;

(8) Technical point of contact to include: salutation, last name, first name, street address, city, state, zip code (+4), telephone, fax (if available), electronic mail;

(9) Administrative point of contact to include: salutation, last…