NIST FY25 CHIPS 0081 SSN.docx

Notice ID Number NIST-FY25-CHIPS-0081

Title: Sources Sought Notice for Camera for Vacuum- and Extreme-Ultraviolet light

The purpose of this sources sought notice is to conduct market research and identify potential sources of commercial products/services that satisfy the Government’s anticipated needs.

BACKGROUND

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Sensor Science Division (SSD) is developing a novel facility for Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Scatterometry located at the Synchrotron Ultraviolet Research Facility (SURF III) as part of the CHIPS mission of developing new metrology techniques for enabling the manufacture of advanced semiconductor devices. Realization of the technique will provide semiconductor manufacturers access to new techniques for evaluating printed patterns on device wafers as well as evaluating the performance of materials in the EUV and Vacuum Ultraviolet (VUV) wavelength ranges. To meet mission requirements, the SSD needs to procure a camera for vacuum- and extreme-ultraviolet (VUV and EUV) light as a component for a new experimental apparatus. This acquisition will allow the SSD to expand its measurement capabilities using VUV and EUV diffractometry. The problem being solved by this technique is the non-destructive measurement of nanoscale patterned features in support of the American semiconductor industry.

Specifically, for VUV and EUV diffractometry, the apparatus will require a four-megapixel charge-coupled device (CCD) camera that can be placed within an ultra-high vacuum chamber. In our VUV and EUV diffractometry, the light emanates from a fixed source and is focused onto a sample under test that is positioned at a grazing angle (theta). The reflected light is captured at an angular position (2 theta) relative to the incident beam. Both angles (theta) and (2 theta) vary during experiments. This reflection is the 0th order diffraction, and higher orders (i.e, ±1st, ±2nd, etc.) may be captured at nearby angles. The distribution of intensities among these orders can be utilized to determine the dimensions of periodic structures such as semiconductor transistors.

There are several functional requirements upon the camera. First, as the VUV and EUV both require a vacuum for meaningful transmission, this necessitates in-vacuum operation of the camera sensor. Second, as the source is fixed and (2 theta) is varied, the camera must be able to be positioned within the vacuum chamber; a flange-mounted camera will not suffice, and the necessary electronics and cabling for operating the camera must also be compatible with a vacuum environment. Third, the camera must be sensitive to VUV and EUV light in the 10 nm to 150 nm wavelength range, and quantum efficiency (QE) specifications are provided below.

Sources of VUV and EUV light can be much lower in intensity that visible wavelength sources, thus a fourth consideration is noise reduction (using cooling) and the shot noise of the camera sensor. A fifth consideration is the size of the camera sensor and its number of pixels to adequately capture these higher order diffraction patterns.

NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a solution that will achieve the objectives described above, in addition to the following essential requirements:

Vacuum requirements: The camera will be compatible with an ultra-high vacuum system, defined here as having a base pressure below 10-9 Torr. Operation in vacuum will also require ultra-high-vacuum-compatible feedthroughs for the electrical connections to outside the chamber.

Electronics requirements:

The camera will have vacuum-compatible cabling at least 75 cm (30 inches) long as well as water hoses if water cooled; extensions to reach these lengths are OK. The camera system will include a vacuum-compatible feedthrough, a power supply, and controller (integrated power supply/controller OK). Cabling between the power supply and controller also must be provided to the feedthroughs and also between the controller and a NIST-provided computer (e.g., ethernet, USB, etc.) for collection of images from the camera.

Documentation requirements: Vendor shall indicate the availability of mechanical drawings (or 3D models) of the camera.

Software: A software development kit (SDK) and a generic GUI (Windows) are both required. Please indicate programming languages of available SDKs.

Other requirements:

The sensor of the camera will be a charged-coupled device (CCD). The CCD sensor of the Camera will have a minimum of 2048 pixels x 2048 pixels.

The quantum efficiency of the CCD Sensor of the Camera is known to be dependent upon the energy of the photon and minimum values per wavelength (energy) are tabulated below. Quantum efficiency (QE) is the measure of the effectiveness of an imaging device to convert incident photons into electrons (QE = 1 is conversion of one photon to one electron).

Please indicate the typical dark current of the camera in electrons per pixel per second. Dark Current is rate of generation of thermal electrons at a given CCD temperature.

Please include estimate of lead time with any response.

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE

In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. Please include only the following information, readable in either Microsoft Word 365, Microsoft Excel 365, or .pdf format, in the response. Submit the response by email to the Primary Point of Contact and, if specified, to the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice. Please note that to be considered for award under any official solicitation, the entity must be registered and “active” in SAM at the time of solicitation response.

· Provide the complete name of your company, address, name of contact for follow-up questions, their email, their phone number and, if your company has an active registration in https://sam.gov, your company’s Unique Entity ID (UEI).

· Identify the equipment that your company sells that can meet the objectives addressed in the BACKGROUND section of this notice. For each product recommended to meet the Government’s requirement, provide the following:

· Manufacturer name

· Model number

· Technical specifications

· If your company is not the manufacturer, provide information on your company’s status as an authorized reseller of the product(s)

· Describe performance capabilities of the product(s) your company recommends to meet the Government’s requirements. Additionally, if there are other features or functions that you believe would assist NIST in meeting its objectives described above, please discuss in your response.

· Discuss whether the equipment that your company sells and which you describe in your response to this notice may be customized to specifications and indicate any limits to customization.

· Identify any aspects of the NIST market research notice, including instructions, and draft minimum specifications in the BACKGROUND section you cannot meet and state why. Please offer suggestions for how the market research notice and draft minimum specifications could be made more competitive.

· State whether the proposed equipment is manufactured in the United States and, if not, state the name of the country where the equipment is manufactured.

· Identify any plans/possibilities for changes in manufacturing location of the aforementioned equipment and provide relevant details, including timeline.

· For the NAICS code listed in this notice:

· Indicate whether your company is (a) a small business or (b) other than small business. See the Table of Small Business Size Standards and the associated .pdf download file for small business size standards and additional information.

· If you believe the NAICS code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of product addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS code that you believe would be more appropriate for the planned procurement.

· Describe services that are available with the purchase of the aforementioned equipment from your company such as installation, training, and equipment maintenance.

· Describe standard terms and conditions of sale offered by your company for the recommended equipment such as: delivery time after your company accepts the order; FOB shipping terms; manufacturer warranty (including details regarding nature and duration); if available, description(s) of available extended warranty; equipment setup and test; operator and service instruction manual(s); cleanup after installation; and if applicable, other offered services. Provide a copy of manufacturer standard terms and conditions that typically relate to the sale of the specified equipment, if available.

· State whether your company offers facility renovation services related to installation of the recommended equipment at its delivery destination, if required per the NIST-identified minimum specifications, and provide description of said services. Indicate if your company performs the facility renovation services or typically subcontracts the work to another company. Indicate if your company would be interested in inspecting the intended installation site during the market research phase.

· State published price, discount, or rebate arrangements for recommended equipment and/or provide link to access company’s published prices for equipment and services.

· If the recommended equipment and related services are available for purchase on any existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts against which NIST may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.

· Identify any customers in the public or private sectors to which you provided the recommended or similar equipment. Include customer(s) information: company name, phone number, point of contact, email address.

· Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for NIST to know as part of its market research for this requirement.

· State if you require NIST to provide additional information to improve your understanding of the government’s requirement and/or would like to meet with NIST representatives to discuss the requirement and the capabilities of the identified equipment.

QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE

Questions regarding this notice may be submitted via email to the Primary Point of Contact and the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice. Questions should be submitted so that they are received 5 days prior to the response date. If the Contracting Officer determines that providing a written amendment to this notice to document question(s) received would benefit other potential respondents, the questions would be anonymized, and a written response to such question(s) would be provided via an amendment to this notice.

IMPORTANT NOTES

This notice is for market research purposes and should not be construed as a commitment by NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. There is no solicitation available at this time.

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.

NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate.

Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

After a review of the responses received, a synopsis and solicitation may be published on GSA’s eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered an adequate response to any such solicitation(s).

Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request.