Solicitation 1333ND26QNB030053 FIB-SEM.docx

Focused Ion Beam/Scanning Electron Microscope (FIB/SEM) 1333ND26QNB030053

(I) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial products or commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotations are being requested, and a written solicitation will not be issued.

(II) The solicitation number is 1333ND26QNB030053 and this solicitation is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). This acquisition is being solicited as unrestricted.

(III) The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2025-06 dated October 1, 2025, and the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO), supplemented by U.S. Department of Commerce Acquisition Policy.

(IV) The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 334516, Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing, with a small business size standard of 1,000 employees.

(V) All quoters shall provide a firm-fixed-price quotation for the following line item(s):

NTE

TOTAL:

(VI) The requirements for the line items to be acquired above are in the attached Statement of Work. A list of all solicitation attachments is provided below:

Attachment #1: Statement Of Work, FIB/SEM Attachment #2: Applicable Provisions and Clauses

(VII) Date(s) and place(s) of delivery and acceptance and FOB point are required in accordance with the attached Statement of Work document.

(VIII) Quoters/Contractors must possess an ACTIVE registration in the System for Award Management system, www.SAM.gov, when submitting a quotation and shall continue to be registered until time of award, during performance, and through final payment of any contract resulting from this solicitation. The Contracting Officer shall confirm that quoters have an “active” registration at the www.sam.gov website upon receipt of the quotation. If the SAM.gov registration is not active, the quotation will not be considered for award

(IX) The provision at FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Products and Commercial Services (DEVIATION JAN 2026), applies to this acquisition. Addenda to this provision is as follows:

DUE DATE FOR QUOTATIONS

Quoters shall submit their electronic quotations via email so that NIST receives them not later than 4:30 pm Eastern Time (ET) on February 23, 2026. E-mail quotations shall be submitted directly to the Contract Specialist, Nina Lin, at nina.lin@nist.gov and Contracting Officer, Forest Crumpler, at forest.crumpler@nist.gov.

Please reference the RFQ number in the subject line of email communications. Quoters’ quotations will be deemed received by the Government upon receipt of the quotation in the e-mail inbox set forth above.

PRE-QUOTE INQUIRIES (CAR 1352.215-72)

Quoters must submit all questions concerning this solicitation in writing to both the Contract Specialist, and the Contracting Officer through email. Questions should be received no later than 4 calendar days after the issuance date of this solicitation. All responses to the questions will be made in writing, without identification of the questioner, and will be included in an amendment to the solicitation. Even if provided in other form, only the responses included in the amendment to the solicitation will govern performance of the contract.

QUOTATION PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS

All quotations shall conform to solicitation provisions/clauses and be prepared in accordance with this section. The quotation shall be clearly and concisely written as well as be neat, indexed (cross-indexed as appropriate) and logically assembled. Note: The term “indexed” refers to a table of contents that lists sections and page numbers. In the event that the quoter is unable to create an indexed quotation, an alternative approach such as a Table of Contents shall suffice. All pages of the quotation shall be appropriately numbered. A cover letter may be included in addition to Volumes I-IV discussed below.

In preparing the quotation, there are no page limits, and each volume shall stand on its own. For each given evaluation factor, the Government will only evaluate the information provided in the corresponding section of the quotation. The quoter’s quotation shall be clearly divided into the following distinct volumes:

Volume I – Technical Quotation Volume II – Experience Quotation Volume III- Price Quotation Volume IV- Terms and Conditions

Volume I - Technical Quotation:

The quoter shall submit technical approach and capability documentation which may include a narrative, charts, graphs, tables, drawings, product / service literature, and as applicable, demonstrated authority to provide the necessary items and perform the required services identified in the Statement of Work (Attachment 1). The documentation shall clearly describe, in sufficient detail, the quoter's authority, proposed items, resources and methods to successfully fulfill the requirements including specifications, performance capability requirements, delivery schedules, warranties, and all service requirements. The submission shall clearly identify each line item above. The submission must demonstrate that the proposed system meets or exceeds each minimum requirement described within the attached SOW document by providing a citation between the SOW paragraph and the relevant section of the technical description or product literature. The quoter must not simply state they will meet or exceed the requirement; evidence must be provided. If applicable, evidence that the quoter is authorized by the manufacturer to provide the item(s) in the quotation shall be included.

Volume II - Experience Quotation:

The quoter shall describe up to three (3) relevant (similar in scope, size, and complexity) contracts/ projects demonstrating experience that aligns to the requirements of the SOW. Each contract/project should include the following:

a) Contract/project number and title

b) Company Name, address, point of contact name, title, email, and phone number

c) Product and/or service provided and relevance to SOW requirements

d) Contract total dollar amount/value over the entire period of performance

e) Period of Performance start and completion (or projected completion) dates by month and year Volume III - Price Quotation:

The pricing quotation shall be separate from any other portion of the quotation. The quoter shall propose a firm-fixed-price quotation for each CLIN to include all shipping costs (FOB Destination) and tariffs (see below instructions), if applicable. Price quotations shall remain valid for a period of 90 days from the date quotations are due.

Quoters that are proposing products manufactured outside of the United States must identify any other or unknown charges that may be applicable to the sale of these products (here indicated as CLIN 0003) as a separate line item on price quotes/proposals. This price element may be listed as part of the cost of the product or as a sub-total element but must be clearly identified. This price element must only apply to the total value of the goods identified for customs processing. Only include the country of origin and the tariff percentage currently in place or the expected amount at time of delivery for that country. Price quotes shall clearly identify the relevant tariffs in terms of percentage and total cost. If there are multiple countries of origins and associated tariffs, identify each separately.

Volume IV – Terms and Conditions:

a) If the quoter is not a small business concern, the quoter shall submit a Small Business Subcontracting Plan in accordance with FAR 52.219-9 as a part of this volume.

b) The quoter shall review Attachment 2, Applicable Provision and Clauses and complete any required information as record via a separate volume response to this solicitation.

Note: System updates may lag policy updates. The System for Award Management (SAM) may continue to require entities to complete representations based on provisions that are not included in this solicitation. Contracting officers will rely on representations from offers based on provisions in the solicitation. Entities are not required to, nor are they able to, update their entity registration to remove these representations in SAM.

Addendum to FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation- Commercial Products and Commercial Services (DEVIATION JAN 2026):

Basis for Award:

The Government intends to award a single purchase order (PO) from this solicitation using simplified acquisitions procedures in accordance with FAR part 12. The government will make an award, based on best value, to the quoter with the proposed solution that is most advantageous, price and other factors considered. When combined, non-priced factors are significantly more important than price. The Government reserves the right not to award a PO and to make an award without discussions based solely upon initial quotes.

A quoter's failure to address any factor may be considered indicative of the quoter's lack of understanding of the Government's requirements and may result in the offer being determined unacceptable.

Evaluation Factors:

1) Technical Capability: No prototypes, demonstration models, used or refurbished instruments will be considered. Evaluation of technical capability shall be based on the information provided in the quotation. NIST will evaluate the extent to which the quoter has demonstrated that its proposed equipment meets or exceeds all minimum requirements. Quotations that do not demonstrate the proposed equipment meets all requirements may not be considered further for award. If a quoter’s technical description and/or product literature does not indicate whether its proposed equipment meets a certain minimum requirement, NIST may determine that it does not meet the requirements. Additional preference will be given to quotations that include:

a) A Ga+ ion column which exceeds a spatial resolution of better than 5 nm at 30kV in accordance with (IAW) SOW 2.1.1.

b) An electron column which exceeds a spatial resolution of better than 0.6 nm at eucentric working distance on a bulk sample IAW SOW 2.2.2.

c) An electron column which exceeds a spatial resolution of better than 0.4 nm in STEM mode IAW SOW 2.2.3.

d) Detectors with more capable in-lens detector systems (e.g. additional in-column detectors) IAW SOW 2.3.3.

e) Detector systems offering more flexible BSE detection through segmented detector control IAW SOW 2.3.4.

f) Detector systems that offer more segments and additional control of the how the segments are grouped into imaging signals IAW SOW 2.3.5.

g) Stage systems that allow greater than 180° of “β” tilt to enable thinning from both sides while preserving the ability to see both sides of the lamella and perform STEM measurements.

h) Sample holders compatible with Cameca atom probe sample coupons IAW SOW 2.4.4.4.

i) A gas injection system with Platinum deposition in addition to the required compositions of Tungsten, Carbon, and Insulator (SiO2) IAW SOW 2.5.4.

j) A gas injection system with chemically enhanced carbon etching IAW SOW 2.5.5.

k) A gas injection system with delivery of multiple gas chemistries through a single injection needle IAW SOW 2.5.6.

l) A gas injection system with motorized control of injection needle position including the ability to position the needles for specific ion and electron operations (e.g. electron and ion beam normal incidence stage tilts) IAW SOW 2.5.7.

m) A charge neutralizer with an electron flood gun for charge neutralization during milling operations of insulating samples IAW SOW 2.9.

n) Fully automatic (e.g. no user intervention) FIB column alignments for all accelerating voltages and probe currents that can be scheduled to run in the background without the need to load a specific alignment sample IAW SOW 3.2.

o) An automation development environment that includes high-level features including image recognition and integration with the control software of the FIB/SEM IAW SOW 3.5.

2) Experience: The Government will evaluate the quoter’s prior demonstrated experience delivering, installing and providing warranty for instruments similar to those in the SOW to determine the level of confidence the Government has in the quoters experience and ability to successfully deliver and perform SOW requirements. Experience submitted for evaluation with a direct correlation to the proposed requirements may instill higher confidence than those with lesser relevance.

3) Price: The proposed price will be evaluated for fair and reasonableness. The evaluation will determine whether the proposed prices are reasonable in relation to the solicitation requirements. Prices must be consistent with the technical portion of the quotation.