SSN HTII.pdf

NIST-SS24-CHIPS-0006

6640 / 334513

Primary POC: Jenna Bortner (jenna.bortner@nist.gov) Secondary POC: Tracy Retterer (tracy.retterer@nist.gov)

Title: High-Temperature Instrumented Indentation (HTII) System (standalone)

BACKGROUND

NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a commercial item solution that meets or exceeds the following draft minimum specifications:

1 Instrumented Indentation Characteristics

1.1 Capable of measuring and reporting applied force, indentation displacement and time throughout indentation cycle.

1.2 Capable of applying predetermined test forces or displacements: The indentation cycle can be either force-controlled or displacement-controlled. The controlled parameters can vary either continuously or step by step and shall be customizable by user within the operation range of HTII system.

1.3 Compensate for machine compliance and utilizes indenter area function.

1.4 Capable to be frequently operated in ambient conditions.

1.5 Capable of producing indentation forces of up to 1 N (force resolution: 100 nN) and to measure displacements of up to 3 µm (displacement resolution: 0.5 nm).

2 Dynamic Indentation Characteristics

2.1 Capable to drive an actuator with a prescribed frequency and amplitude of oscillatory force or displacement with simultaneously measuring the resulting dynamic displacement or force.

2.2 Compensates for additional phase differences induced by system’s electronics that process load and displacement signals.

2.3 Operate in a dynamic frequency range from 0.1 Hz to 250 Hz with dynamic force amplitudes of up to 3 mN and dynamic displacement amplitudes of up to 2 µm.

3 High-Temperature Indentation Characteristics

3.1 Create local hot zone with feedback control to heat the sample to a constant temperature significantly above the ambient temperature and maintain a constant sample temperature for the duration of the measurements at elevated temperatures.

3.2 Operate in a temperature range from room temperature (RT) up to 400 °C with a temperature control/resolution of ≤ 0.5 °C and a thermal drift of ≤ 0.1 nm/s (at RT) and ≤ 2 nm/s (at 400 °C).

3.3 The HTII system shall be capable to measure and assign a traceably calibrated temperature to the indentation contact using either of the following two methods:

i. Active tip heating and temperature sensing: The sample is heated with feedback control. The indenter tip is actively heated with feedback control using independent heating and temperature measurement of the indenter tip. The HTII system shall have independent heating of the indenter tip under feedback control from an integrated tip temperature sensor (e.g., thermocouple). The heater shall be capable of operating in both temperature set point control and constant power control.

ii. Passive tip heating without tip temperature sensing: The sample is heated in feedback control. The indenter tip is passively heated by proximity to the hot sample and by thermal conduction through the indentation contact.

3.4 Maintain system calibration over operating temperature range.

4 Environment Requirements

4.1 Active vibration-damping equipment and environmental enclosure to protect HTII system from shock and vibration. Minimum requirements: (1) active vibration isolation bandwidth shall be up to 200 Hz; (2) isolation performance: 40 db.

4.2 Capable to operation in vacuum or high purity gas atmosphere to prevent oxidation of samples at elevated temperatures.

4.3 Provide necessary components and part to operate the system in vacuum or inert gas atmosphere.

5 User Interface and Software Characteristics

5.1 Control and monitoring of HTII System.

5.2 Automated routines to calibrate and verify the functionality of HTII system (e.g., tip-microscope offset calibration).

5.3 Capable to collect, display and analyze (using common methods for hardness and modulus extraction, e.g., Oliver Pharr) data generated by DAQ components of HTII System.

5.4 Capable to collect and store image data generated by optical camera system of HTII System.

5.5 Capable to develop, apply, store, and recall customized indentation testing routines.

5.6 Control PC with Windows 10 operating system or later with Trusted Platform Module

2.0 or greater and peripheral computer hardware to operate HTII system (monitor, keyboard, mouse/joystick etc.).

6 Additional Characteristics of HTII System

6.1 Automated x, y, z-axis stage for sample manipulation and indenter-microscope alignment with a resolution of 100 nm.

6.2 Optical camera system with a magnification from 20x to 200x with connected color camera for observation of the sample surface.

7 The contractor shall provide information on the following characteristics:

7.1 Force and Displacement: minimum, maximum, resolution, noise floor in dynamic, static and high-temperature operation.

7.2 Dynamic Indentation: minimum, maximum of dynamic frequency range, dynamic force amplitudes and dynamic displacement amplitudes.

7.3 High-Temperature Operation: maximum temperature, maximum heating rate, resolution for temperature control/measurements.

7.4 X,Y,Z stage: travel range, resolution, and repeatability.

7.5 Sample: minimum, maximum dimensions.

7.6 Costs for standard indenter tips and high-temperature indenter tips (one Berkovich tip, one conospherical tip with curvature of 10 µm). Specification on tip assembly for high-temperature tips. Provide information on 3rd party supply if not offered by contractor.

7.7 Type and cost for reference materials for high-temperature indentation testing (if offered by contractor).

7.8 Availability and costs of additional options for high-speed mapping, scratch testing and thin film indentation (if offered by contractor).

7.9 Costs for shipping, installation, and training.

7.10 Costs for extended warranty and service contract options.

7.11 Lead time.

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE

In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORRMATION.

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 specialist listed at the bottom of this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice.

• 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 laboratory equipment that your company sells that is of the nature addressed in the BACKGROUND section of this notice. Include brand name, make, model, and/or other distinguishing information.

• State if your company is the manufacturer of the identified equipment or is a retailer or wholesaler that normally sells the identified equipment. If the latter, indicate whether the manufacturer authorized in writing for your company to sell the identified equipment on behalf of the manufacturer.

• Describe performance capabilities and relevant or beneficial physical and functional features for any equipment you identified to satisfy the NIST-identified minimum specifications described in this notice.

• Identify any aspects of the NIST market research notice, including instructions, and draft minimum specifications in the BACKGROUND section above that could be viewed as unduly restrictive or contain unnecessary barriers that adversely affect your ability to fully participate and indicate why. In such a scenario, please offer suggestions for how the market research notice and draft minimum specifications could be made more inclusive and competitive.

• 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.

https://sam.gov/

• For the NAICS code listed in this notice:

o 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.

o 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 aforementioned 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 aforementioned equipment at its delivery destination, if required per the NIST-identified minimum specifications, and provide description of 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 inspecting the intended installation site during the market research phase.

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

• State whether the aforementioned 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.

• If the aforementioned 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 place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.

• Identify any customers in the public or private sectors in which you provided the aforementioned 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.

https://www.sba.gov/document/support-table-size-standards

• 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 by 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on January 29, 2024. Questions will be anonymized and answered via sources sought notice amendment following the question submission deadline.

IMPORTANT NOTES

The information received in response to this notice will be reviewed and considered so that NIST may appropriately solicit for its requirements in the near future.

This notice should not be construed as a commitment by NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract.

Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotations.

No award will be made as a result of this notice.

NIST is not responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice.

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

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