AFM_Sources_Sought_PDF.pdf

Sources Sought

SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS (Not a Notice of Solicitation)

FA8601-16-R-0024

The United States Air Force, AFLCMC/PZIO Operational Contracting Branch, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio is seeking capabilities packages of potential sources including Small Business (SB), 8(a), HUBZone, and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) concerns.

This Sources Sought Synopsis is published for market research purposes only, to identify potential sources capable of providing an atomic force microscope, mounted inside of a vibration dampened glove box at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in accordance with the requirements of industry standards and applicable local, state, and Federal laws. A Draft Requirements Document is attached.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

The Draft Requirements Document has all of the information listed in regards to the technical requirements for this project. As a reminder, these are drafts and estimates which are subject to be changed.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 334516 – Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing. The government reserves the right to consider a small business set-aside based upon responses hereto for any subsequent action. All prospective contractors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database to be awarded a DoD contract. No set-aside decision has been made. Note that a key factor in determining an acquisition to be a Small Business Set Aside is that small business prime contractors must perform at least 50% of the effort, as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clause 52.219-14.

The Air Force anticipates an acquisition for a Firm Fixed price contract for an Atomic Force microscope, as well as installation of and training for the use of said microscope.

Any information submitted by respondents to this sources sought synopsis is voluntary. This sources sought notice is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government reimburse any costs associated with the submission of information in response to this notice. Respondents will not be individually notified of the results of any government assessments. The Government's assessment of the capability statements received will factor into whether any forthcoming solicitation will be conducted as a full and open competition or as a set-aside for small businesses, or any particular small business program.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. The information below provides a “Contractor Capability Survey” to allow you to document your company’s capabilities in meeting these requirements.

2. If, after reviewing these documents, you desire to participate in the market research, please complete and return the Contractor Capability Survey below. Response format and due date information is specified at the bottom portion of this notice. Failure to provide a complete response may result in the government being unable to adequately assess your capabilities. If you lack sufficient experience in a particular area, please provide details explaining how you would overcome the lack of experience/capabilities in order to perform that portion of the requirement (i.e., teaming, subcontracting, etc.)

3. Both large and small businesses are encouraged to participate in this Market Research. Joint ventures or teaming arrangements are encouraged.

Questions relative to this market survey should be addressed via email to Mr. Stephen Moberg at stephen.moberg@us.af.mil.

CONTRACTOR CAPABILITY SURVEY:

Part I. Business Information:

Please provide the following business information for your firm:

Company/Institute Name:

Address:

Point of Contact:

CAGE Code:

Phone Number:

Email Address:

Web Page URL:

Based on North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 334516, size standard of 500 employees, please circle Yes or No as to whether your company is:

Small Business (Yes / No) Self-Certified or Third Party Certified Small Disadvantaged Business (Yes / No) Self-Certified or Third Party Certified 8(a) Certified (Yes / No) Self-Certified or Third Party Certified HUBZone Certified (Yes / No) Self-Certified or Third Party Certified Veteran-Owned Small Business (Yes / No) Self-Certified or Third Party Certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business(Yes / No) Self-Certified or Third

Party Certified mailto:stephen.moberg@us.af.mil

Women-Owned (WO) (Yes / No) Self-Certified or Third Party Certified Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (Yes / No) Self-

Certified or Third Party Certified

Please indicate if your company is domestic or foreign owned (if foreign, please indicate the country of ownership).

Indicate if you are the manufacturer or provide the name and size of the manufacturer of the product(s) you will be supplying.

Please provide a statement that the respondent will allow or will not allow the Government to release proprietary data. The Air Force will handle proprietary items in accordance with FAR 2.101 and 3.104.

Please provide information about the firm’s standard warranty.

Please provide recent sales history to commercial companies in order to determine commerciality.

Please provide a statement to acceptability of the following proposed provisions and clauses, as they are determined to be consistent with customary commercial practice.

At this time the following non-commercial clauses are being considered for inclusion in the solicitation package:

52.204-4 Printed or Copied Double-Sided on Postconsumer Fiber Content Paper 52.215-20 Requirements for Certified Cost or Pricing Data and Data Other Than Certified

Cost or Pricing Data 52.232-39 Unenforceability of Unauthorized Obligations 52.233-2 Service of Protest 52.242-13 Bankruptcy 52.252-1 Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference 52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference 52.252-5 Authorized Deviations in Provisions 52.252-6 Authorized Deviations in Clauses 252.209-7004 Subcontracting with Firms that are Owned or Controlled by the Government of a

Country that is a State Sponsor of Terrorism 252.225-7002 Qualifying Country Sources as Subcontractors 252.225-7048 Export-Controlled Items 5352.223-9000 Elimination of Use of Class I Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) 52.204-7 System for Award Management 52.204-13 System for Award Management Maintenance 52.204-16 Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting 52.204-18 Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance 52.229-3 Federal, State, and Local Taxes

252.203-7002 Requirement to Inform Employees of Whistleblower Rights 252.204-7003 Control of Government Personnel Work Product 252.243-7001 Pricing of Contract Modifications 5352.201-9101 Ombudsman 5352.223-9001 Health and Safety on Government Installations

Attention: Small business respondents who are interested in submitting a proposal as the prime contractor for this effort: The acquisition strategy for this requirement has not been decided; however, the Air Force is contemplating setting this acquisition aside for small businesses if there is sufficient demonstrated interest and capability. Note that a key factor in determining an acquisition to be a Small Business Set Aside is that two or more small business prime contractors must be capable of providing at least 50% of the entire requirement, as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clause 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting.

Provide specific details and rationale as to how compliance with FAR clause 52.219-14 would be achieved, including specific details regarding teaming arrangements, etc. If subcontracts are to be used, provide anticipated percentage of effort to be subcontracted and whether small or large businesses will be used. Teaming and/or subcontracting arrangements should be clearly delineated and previous experience in teaming must be provided.

Attention All potential respondents: If this acquisition is not set aside for small business, it is anticipated that the contract may contain a small business utilization requirement.

Please provide feedback on what areas of this requirement are likely candidates for small business subcontracting.

Part II. Capability Survey Questions:

1. Name of country where the atomic force microscope is manufactured.

2. Describe briefly the capabilities of your facility and the nature of the services you provide. Include a description of your staff composition and management structure.

3. Describe your company's past experience on previous projects similar in complexity to this requirement. Include contract number and date, a brief description, agency/organization supported, and point of contact name and telephone number.

4. Are there specific requirements in the documentation that we provide that would currently preclude your product/service from being a viable solution to our requirement?

5. Are there established market prices for our requirement? If you offer this product and/or service to both U.S. Government and commercial sources, is the same workforce used for both the U.S. Government and general public? Is our requirement offered to both under similar terms and conditions? Briefly describe any differences.

6. Describe your standard warranty and return process for goods and services furnished to the government for items similar in nature to this requirement.

CAPABILITIES PACKAGE:

All interested firms shall submit a response demonstrating their capabilities to provide the requested items to the primary point of contact listed below. Any information submitted by respondents to this sources sought synopsis is voluntary. As stipulated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 15.201, responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Any information submitted by respondents to this sources sought synopsis is voluntary and will not be returned. The Government will not reimburse any costs incurred or associated with the submission of information in response to this notice. The decision to solicit for a contract shall be solely within the Government’s discretion.

Responses are limited to 5 pages and may be submitted electronically to the following email address: stephen.moberg@us.af.mil in a Microsoft Word compatible format or mailed to AFLCMC/PZIOA POC: Mr. Stephen Moberg, 1940 Allbrook Drive, Room 109, Wright- Patterson AFB, OH 45433-5344 to be received no later than 5:00 pm, EST, Thursday, March 3 2016. Direct all questions concerning this acquisition to Mr. Stephen Moberg at stephen.moberg@us.af.mil or 937-522-4584.

The Government's assessment of the capability statements received will factor into whether any forthcoming solicitation will be solicited as full and open or set-aside for small business, or any particular small business program (e.g. SDVOSB, EDWOSB, HUBZone, 8(a), etc.).

Be advised that all correspondence sent via e-mail shall contain a subject line that reads “Atomic Force Microscope”. If this subject line is not included, the e-mail may not get through e-mail filters at Wright-Patterson AFB. Filters are designed to delete emails without subject lines or with suspicious subject lines or contents. Attachments with files ending in.zip or .exe are not allowable and will be deleted. Ensure only .pdf, .doc, or .xls documents are attached to email.

Attachment:

1. DRAFT Requirements

DRAFT Requirements

A. Microscope (Basic Requirements)

1. The scan length in the X-Y direction should be no less than 85-micron meter.

2. Z range is no less than 9.0μm.

3. Vertical noise floor is smaller than 30pm RMS for a typical imaging bandwidth (up to 625Hz).

4. X-Y position noise (closed-loop) is not larger than 0.15nm RMS for a typical imaging bandwidth (up to 625Hz).

5. X-Y position noise (open-loop) is not larger than 0.10nm RMS.

6. Z sensor noise level (closed-loop) is not larger than 35pm RMS for a typical imaging bandwidth (up to 625Hz); not larger than 50pm RMS for force curve bandwidth (0.1Hz to 5kHz).

7. Integral nonlinearity (X-Y-Z) is not larger than 0.5%.

8. The noise levels of the position sensors should be within the sub-angstroms range in the Z-axis, and angstroms in the X-Y axis.

9. Drift rates should be less than 200pm per minute.

10. The AFM controller should allow simultaneous high-speed data capture and high- pixel-density imaging (> 5000 x 5000 data points in the X-Y directions) in no less than eight channels.

11. The AFM should be able to quantitatively measure nanomechanical properties while simultaneously imaging sample topography at high resolution.

12. The motorized position stage of the AFM should be able to mount large samples that are up to 210mm in diameter and 15mm in thickness.

13. High resolution inspection of the samples using optical microscopy is required. The inspectable area of the samples should be no less than 180mm × 150mm with better than 2μm unidirectional repeatability and 3μm bidirectional repeatability. The optical microscope images can be recorded using a digital camera with digital zoom and motorized focus.

14. High speed graphical user interface.

15. Voltage requirement: single phase 100-120V at 50-60 Hz.

16. Computer for the AFM Control, data acquisition, and storage with one LCD monitor (30-inch LCD monitor, 2560x1600, 50/60 Hz refresh rate, auto switching).

17. Must fit inside of glove box specified below.

18. Warranty if offered.

B. Recipes and Software Automated Operation

1. Allows users to easily automate many aspects of the AFM software by creating recipes through an easy to use graphical user interface.

2. Provides access to real-time and offline features of AFM software, resulting in improved productivity and consistency of results by allowing automation of imaging for multiple sites on a single sample, imaging the same sites on multiple similar samples, imaging multiple (different) types of measurements on the same sample, creating a paneled mosaic of images, performing complex combinations of offline analysis on batches of images and creating detailed custom reports of any automated process created by user.

C. PeakForce TUNA Module for Conductive AFM and Tunneling AFM measurement Equivalent

1. A method for probing / measuring conductivity of fragile samples such as organic photovoltaic, conductive nanotubes, and nanoparticles.

2. Provides direct, precise force control and eliminates lateral forces enabling high sensitivity and high-resolution current imaging.

D. PeakForce QNM Software Equivalent

1. Allows quantitative mapping of nano-mechanical properties including elastic modulus, adhesion, deformation, and dissipation while simultaneously imaging sample topography at high resolution.

2. Be able to control the force used to indent the sample to a few nanometers to maintain both resolution and prevent sample damage.

E. Glove box

1. Custom glove box that enables high resolution AFM performance while in an atmosphere of <1ppm Oxygen and <1ppm H2O.

2. Based on the Lab master series 2-glove version with approximate inside dimensions of 1250 mm (w) x 780mm (d) x 900mm (h), standard 390/600mm antechamber, and mini 150/400mm antechamber.

3. Modification of mini antechamber for integration of a 260 liter per second Turbo-molecular pump with a Rotary vane pump included. The rotary pump must include an oil mist filter, gas ballast, oil return kit and fore-line trap.

4. Touch panel controlled regenerable gas purification system with oxygen and water analyzers.

5. Glove box pre-mounted onto custom-designed rigid stand with thick steel top plate and vibration dampening.

6. The glove box and stand dimensions cannot be larger than 88 inches long by 43 inches wide by 75 inches high. If dimensions are larger the instrument will not fit through the doorway.

F. Installation and training to be included at AFIT for up to 4 people for 40 hours.