HRl MGM Phase 2_JA_For Public Posting_10 Sept 2020.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR

OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

SUBJECT: Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition for Phase 2 of the HRL

Laboratories Millimeter Wave GaN Maturation (MGM) Program

PART 1- JUSTIFICATION

1. Agency and Contracting Activity Identification: This justification and approval for other than full and open competition is executed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Contracts Management Office (CMO), on behalf of DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office (MTO). The resulting action, once approved hereby, will be contracted through DARPA CMO.

2. Description of Action: DARPA proposes to enter into a sole-source, Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) follow-on contract with HRL Laboratories, LLC (HRL) of Malibu, CA for the continuation of their Millimeter Wave GaN Maturation (MGM) program. The proposed sole-source project is a 24-month follow-on to Phase 1 activities performed by HRL under DARPA Contract No. HR001119C0006, which was competitively awarded under Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) No. HR001118S0060 (MTO Office-wide).

3. Description of Supplies or Services: As a performer on DARPA’s Nitride Electronics NeXt- Generation Technology (NEXT) program, HRL developed state-of-the-art GaN transistors with scaled gate lengths of 40 nm and demonstrated ft/fmax of 200/400 GHz. During Phase 1 of the MGM program, HRL began maturing their Radio Frequency (RF) and mm-wave GaN semiconductor technology previously demonstrated during the DARPA Nitride Electronics NeXt-Generation Technology (NEXT) program, with an ultimate goal of offering GaN foundry services to the broader DoD community and transitioning the technology to DoD applications.

During Phase 1 of MGM, HRL updated their design kits to support multiple CAD tools, supported Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) runs, and reduced overall fabrication cycle time to support DoD customer engagements. The goal of MGM Phase 2 is to further reduce the fabrication cycle time, improve the RF yield and reliability, further improve device models and the process design kit, and further increase the Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL). The GaN technology maturation will be accomplished through targeted process step improvements, the use of process control monitors, several MPW runs, and Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) design improvements. HRL will also continue to refine their Metal-Embedded Chip

SUBJECT: Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition for the HRL Phase 2 Millimeter Wave GaN Maturation (MGM) Follow-on Project.

Assembly for Microwave Integrated Circuits (MECAMIC) process that will enable faster prototyping (less than four weeks) of MMICs by using prefabricated known-good transistors cells. W-band Power Amplifiers will be fabricated and delivered using this process.

4. Statutory Authority Cited: The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(l), “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements,” as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 6.302-1.

5. Unique Qualification and Use of the Statutory Authority Cited: HRL is in a unique position to conduct and successfully complete Phase 2 of MGM because the requirements are for continued specialized services defined under a previous Phase 1 contract that was competitively awarded to HRL. The same team with the required technical expertise, specialized semiconductor processing tools and facilities will ensure that the Phase 2 project goals and metrics are met and on schedule.

As the developer of the unique RF and mm-wave GaN semiconductor technology initiated under the DARPA NEXT program (82 months), and continued under Phase 1 of the MGM program (21 months), HRL possess extensive background knowledge and intellectual property/data that makes them uniquely qualified to perform the necessary work during Phase 2 of the MGM program. Awarding to an alternate source, were one even available, would result in a substantial duplication of cost of approximately $11M (Phase 1 MGM) to the Government that would not be recovered through full and open competition, and adding a minimum of 18 months to reach the Technical and Manufacturing Readiness Levels (TRL/MRL) currently attained by HRL -resulting in unacceptable delays in fulfilling DARPA’s MGM technology transition requirements given the time and effort that would be required for any other performer to gain the level of understanding necessary to successfully finish the program and transition the resulting technology.

When surveying alternatives for millimeter wave GaN, the options are limited. The primary commercial GaN suppliers, Qorvo and Wolfspeed, do not offer millimeter wave devices and are mostly focused on high-power, lower frequency applications that include cellular base stations and some L-band through X-band radar applications. Within the defense industrial base, Northrup Grumman, BAE and Raytheon have GaN processes that are mostly for internal use with limited third-party access. Additionally, none of these GaN processes is as advanced as the HRL process that was developed under Phase 1 of the MGM program. Currently, there is no pure play foundry access for millimeter wave GaN, and part of the goal of the MGM program is to make HRL’s technology broadly available to interested third parties and transition it to DoD applications. HRL is, therefore, the only source for the MGM Phase 2 follow-on effort.

6. Efforts Made to Ensure Offers are Solicited From as Many Potential Sources as Practicable:

In accordance with FAR Part 5 and 6, a notification of the Government’s intent to award a sole source contract for the MGM Phase 2 program was posted on beta.SAM.Gov on May 4, 2020, at 12 PM Eastern (Special Notice No. DARPA-SN-20-49). The sole source notification expired on May 19, 2020, at 12 PM Eastern. No responses, written or verbal, were received in response to this notice.

Additionally, it is noted that DARPA MTO maintains an open office-wide BAA (HR001120S0018) that is open to all proposers, which solicits research ideas in four broad thrust areas, including Next Generation Front-End Component Technologies for Electromagnetic Spectrum Dominance, which covers GaN and other semiconductor development. In addition, the Microsystems Exploration Program Announcement (PA), DARPA-PA-19-04, provides rapid funding for next-generation electromagnetic components and technologies. In all cases, DARPA reviews and evaluates compliant proposals submitted to the office-wide BAA in accordance with the evaluation criteria outlined therein and give the Government alternative and complementary approaches.

In light of the above, the acquisition approach discussed herein remains the only reasonable approach for DARPA to accomplish its continued MGM research goals, to include transition of the resulting technology – which, if successful, would provide GaN foundry services to the broader DoD community and, therefore, provide a technology transition path to DoD applications.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Costs: HRL will be required to submit a fully qualified cost proposal for the MGM Phase 2 effort. In accordance with FAR/DFARS Part 15, the Contracting Officer will utilize the appropriate proposal analysis techniques (e.g., cost realism and reasonableness assessments) to ensure that the final agreed-to price is fair and reasonable.

Upon conclusion of the negotiations, HRL will be required to submit a Certificate of Current Cost or Pricing Data. As indicated previously, the MGM Phase 2 contract will be negotiated by

DARPA CMO.

8. Market Survey Conducted and Results or a Statement of Reasons Why Market Research was Not Conducted: A formal market survey was not conducted because the effort applies to a unique and highly specialized capability developed under a previous contract that was competitively awarded. Through various market research techniques in accordance with FAR 10.002, DARPA has maintained awareness of the state of technologies available from other sources within the relevant technology communities. Specifically, the DARPA Program Manager and MTO Office Director have an in-depth understanding of GaN technologies currently available, the capability of the contractor and scientific community, and of related competing semiconductor technologies currently available. Based on informal market research, DAPRA determined that HRL is the only know contractor with the requisite highly specialized expertise that can meet DARPA’s requirements for the MGM Phase 2 follow-on effort.

9. Other Factors Supporting Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition: The MGM Phase 2 follow-on effort is a one-time procurement to allow successful transition of HRL’s GaN technology developed under the DARPA NEXT program.

10. Sources Who Expressed a Written Interest in the Acquisition: None – see paragraph 6 above.

11. Actions to Remove or Overcome Barriers to Competition: This procurement satisfies DARPA’s requirements for MGM Phase 2 and will complete the MGM program as documented in PAD No. 180056 (through Amendment 1 thereto, approved by the DARPA Director on 6 April 2020).

12. Delivery requirements: The period of performance for the MGM Phase 2 effort is 24 months.

Deliverables and milestones are listed below:

Month 10 W-band Standard Equivalent Circuit (SEC) design and T4A MMIC lot completed Month 12 Ka-band reliability test station qualified Month 14 Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) run 1 completed Month 16 MPW run 2 completed Month 19 MPW run 3 completed Month 22 MPW run 4 completed Month 24 MECAMIC W-band PAs delivered Month 24 Transition and business case study completed Month 24 MRL assessment and reliability evaluation

13. Anticipated Contract Type: Cost Plus Fix Fee (CPFF)

14. Anticipated Contract Dollar Amount: $8,700,000

Fiscal Year Amount

FY20 $3.60M

FY21 $4.60M

FY22 $0.50M

PART 4 - APPROVAL

Approved in accordance with FAR 6.304.

Signed __ Date_________________________ June 3, 2020