SS 496 NOTICE OF PROPOSED SOLE SOURCE PURCHASE.pdf

UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI

Notice of Proposed Sole Source Purchase

#SS 496

The University of Mississippi (UM) anticipates purchasing the item(s) listed below as a sole source purchase. Anyone objecting to this purchase as a sole source shall follow the procedures outlined below.

Commodity or commodities to be purchased (manufacturer, model, description):

nanoETCH-FC-MSE, manufactured by Moorfield Nanotechnology Ltd.

The need to be fulfilled by this item(s) and why it is the only one that can meet the specific needs of the department:

The Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry has a need for a benchtop reactive ion etching (RIE) and surface-modification system. Specifically, the system must combine the required selectivity with milliwatt-scale soft-etch control, fluorine-based RIE chemistry, and high-vacuum operation in a benchtop configuration. The nanoETCH-FC-MSE system provides both low-power soft etching and fluorine-chemistry reactive ion etching using gases such as SF₆/CHF₃ for controlled etching of graphene, h-BN, SiO₂, Si, and ultra-thin resist materials.

Name of company/individual selling the item and why that source is the only possible source that can provide the required item(s):

Moorfield Nanotechnology Ltd. is the sole designer and manufacturer of the nanoETCH system and its proprietary soft-etch capability. No other commercially available RIE and plasma-etching systems and meet our research requirements. MSE Supplies is the U.S. reseller providing the specified Moorfield nanoETCH configuration, making it the only domestic source for this required system.

Why the amount to be expended for the commodity is reasonable:

The total purchase amount is $110,000 is reasonable because the nanoETCH provides the specialized capabilities not found in other systems and is significantly less than systems that are not benchtop or do not provide the capabilities found with the nanoETCH..

Efforts that the agency went through to obtain the best possible price for the commodity:

After extensive negotiations, the vendor agreed to reduce the nanoETCH equipment price from $152,800 to $101,000, providing a $51,800 discount. With the additional $9,000 tariff cost, the total purchase amount is $110,000. This special pricing is contingent upon the University issuing the purchase order by the end of October 2026.

Submission Instructions and Format of Response from Objecting Parties:

Interested parties who have reason to believe that the item(s) above should not be certified as a sole source should provide information in the following format for UM to use in determining whether or not to proceed with awarding the Sole Source purchase.

1.1 Interested Party Information

1.1.1 Contact Name, Phone Number, Address and email address

1.1.2 Company Website URL, if applicable

1.2 Objection to Sole Source Certification

1.2.1 Interested parties must present specific objections to the Sole Source certification using the criteria listed above.

1.2.2 A statement regarding the Interested Party's capabilities as related to this Sole Source Certification Request.

1.2.3 Comments will be accepted at any time prior to Tuesday, October 27, 2026 at 10:00 am (Central Time). Comments should be addressed to:

Jeff Wells, Procurement Manager The University of Mississippi Procurement Services 164 Jeanette Phillips Drive PO Box 1848 University, Mississippi 38677

1.2.4 Responses may be delivered by hand, via regular mail, overnight delivery, or e-mail at solesource@olemiss.edu with cc: to purchase@olemiss.edu and must reference the sole source number.

1.2.5 UM WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR DELAYS IN THE DELIVERY OF RESPONSES. It is solely the responsibility of the Interested Parties that responses reach UM on time. Interested parties may contact Jeff Wells to verify the receipt of their responses. Responses received after the deadline will be rejected.

If after a review of the submitted notice and documents, UM determines that the commodity in the proposed sole source request can be provided by another person or entity, then UM will withdraw the sole source certification and submit the procurement of the commodity to an advertised competitive bid or selection process.

If UM determines after review that there is only one (1) source for the required commodity, then UM will appeal to the Public Procurement Review Board for approval to purchase.

mailto:solesource@olemiss.edu mailto:%20purchase@olemiss.edu