Sources Sought Notice.docx

Request for Information/ Sources Sought Notice for Providers/Suppliers of Ultra-high Vacuum Sample Backout Chamber

Notice ID: NIST-SS26-CHIPS-21

Contract Opportunity Type Sources Sought

Response Date: December 9,2025

Product Service Code 6640 – Laboratory Equipment and Supplies

NAICS Code 334516 – Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing

BACKGROUND

This is a notice to Request Information (RFI)/Sources Sought Notice (SSN) from industry to help determine the availability and capability of small business and other than small businesses that are capable of providing any or all of the services required by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST is conducting market research to identify potential sources that can provide a ultra-high vacuum sample backout chamber.

This notice is strictly to request information for market research purposes to help NIST determine the appropriate acquisition strategy for this requirement. This notice shall not be construed as a solicitation, an obligation, or commitment by the NIST.

OVERVIEW

We are seeking an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) chamber for testing materials for UHV compatibility. The primary deliverable of our CHIPS R&D project is a radiometer that will operate under industrial extreme ultraviolet lithography conditions, and this UHV chamber will allow us to ensure our detectors can meet this criterion. Since state-of-the-art semiconductor lithography occurs under UHV, this equipment will ensure that our detectors can meet the needs of the U.S.A. semiconductor industry.

This equipment is critical for achieving the project’s mission of developing metrology equipment needed by, and useful to, the U.S.A. semiconductor industry. As UHV compatibility is a crucial criterion for our detector, the delivery of this equipment in fiscal year 2025 is necessary so that we can determine quickly if our primary designs will function under industrial conditions. We expect this procurement to allow us to determine suitable materials that we will use to develop our industrially capable detector.

ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

16 weeks ARO

INFORMATION REQUESTED FROM INDUSTRY SOURCES:

NIST invites industry sources to review this notice carefully. Thereafter, NIST encourages those sources to submit the following:

· Company Summary:

1. Notice ID and its Title for this posting

2. Your company’s name, address, website address and Unique Entity Identifier (if the company has one)

3. Company point of contact, their phone number, and their email address

4. Your company’s size status as it relates to NAICS 325120 - Industrial Gas Manufacturing. See table of business size standards at https://www.sba.gov/document/support-table-size-standards for more information.

5. Indicate whether your company has an active registration for procurement purposes in sam.gov.

The Government reserves the right to follow up on a one-on-one basis with respondents to request additional information or clarifications about information submitted.

THIS IS STRICTLY MARKET RESEARCH. NIST WILL NOT RESPOND TO QUESTIONS REGARDING THE RESULTS OF THIS MARKET RESEARCH. REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WILL NOT BE PROVIDED

SUBMMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Interested parties shall submit responses to by the closing date of this notice to elizabeth.timberlake@nist.gov and to tracy.retterer@nist.gov.

· Microsoft Word (or PDF) document, and 12-inch font.

· Submission shall not exceed ten (10) pages. Any cover page OR Standard Commercial Pricing Sections is not included in the total page count.

· Respondents are requested to state their capabilities and expertise in clear and concise language.

· Respondents are strongly encouraged to avoid use of excessive marketing and sales language

Cover Page Respondents shall include the following Business information on the Cover Page:

1. Sources Sought Notice number, title, and date of issuance

1. Unique Entity ID

1. Company Name

1. Company Address

1. company website address,

1. Company Point of Contact, Phone, and Email address

1. Validation of business status under NAICS: 334516 See table of business size standards at https://www.sba.gov/document/support-table-size-standards for more information.

1. Indicate whether your company has an active registration for procurement purposes in sam.gov.

This notice is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of NIST.

NIST does not intend to award a contract based on responses nor otherwise pay for the preparation of any information submitted. As a result of this notice, NIST may issue a Request for Quote (RFQ) or Request for Proposal (RFP).

THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME. However, should such a requirement materialize, no basis for claims against NIST shall arise because of a response to this notice or NIST’s use of such information as either part of our evaluation.

Confidentiality Do not include proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information in a response to this notice. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary information as it deems appropriate in establishing requirements for its upcoming acquisition.

Teaming Arrangements Firms seeking to respond to this notice as a team or to rely on subcontractors to perform any portion of the work must include the above-requested information and certifications for each entity on the proposed team or each proposed subcontractor. Any proposed teaming arrangement proposed by small business must comply with FAR clause 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting (OCT 2022).

DISCLAIMER

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government 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. Information provided will be used to help NIST assess alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received and other market research, NIST may publish a solicitation on SAM.gov or on GSA ebuy, depending on the acquisition strategy chosen by NIST. NIST will not consider proposals submitted directly in response to this notice for award. Responses received after the closing date for this notice may not be considered for market research purposes.