Notice of Intent.docx

Notice of Intent

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Acquisition Management Division intends to negotiate with SVT Associates, Inc., located in Eden Prairie, MN, on a sole source basis under the authority of FAR Subpart 13.106-1(b), soliciting from a single source, for the acquisition of an aluminum effusion cell and compatible pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) crucible.

Specific Requirements are as follows:

1. A single-filament aluminum effusion cell compatible with installation on a Veeco GEN 10 molecular beam epitaxy system, with the following minimum characteristics:

· Designed for a 60 cc conical crucible;

· Capable of operation at 1350 °C in an ultrahigh vacuum environment;

· Internal water-cooling loop at the cell lip to mitigate aluminum creep;

· 4.5” CF flange and in-vacuum length of 11.4”;

· Type C thermocouple and electrical feedthroughs compatible with existing system.

2. A compatible PBN crucible with:

· Conical design;

· 60 cc capacity;

· Extended lip to contain aluminum creep.

NAICS Code is 334516 –Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing, with a Size Standard of 1,000 employees. NIST anticipates negotiating and awarding a firm-fixed-price purchase order to SVT Associates, Inc. for this requirement.

Interested parties that can demonstrate they could satisfy the requirement listed above for NIST must clearly and unambiguously identify their capability to do so in writing on or before the response date for this notice. This notice of intent is not a solicitation. Information submitted in response to this notice will be used solely to determine whether competitive procedures could be used for this acquisition. If competitive procedures are not used it is estimated that an award will be issued by August 20, 2025. Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to lauren.lopez@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted to lauren.lopez@nist.gov no later than the date and time provided herein this posting.

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AN OPEN COMPETITION:

Due to the specialized design required to mitigate aluminum creep during molecular beam epitaxy processes, only SVT Associates, Inc. provides an effusion cell with an internal water-cooling loop at the crucible lip, a feature critical for the safe and stable deposition of aluminum-containing alloys. NIST has used a similar SVT effusion cell for over a decade with no failures, and SVT Associates remains the only known vendor able to provide this essential feature. Market research and outreach efforts have confirmed no other sources currently meet the technical requirements. Failure to procure this equipment would directly hinder NIST’s semiconductor nanostructure research and production of Standard Reference Instrument 6012.