NOTICE OF INTENT-Computer Control System Upgrade

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Acquisition Management Division intends to negotiate with Veeco Equipment Corporation, located in Columbia, SC, on a sole source basis under the authority of FAR Subpart 13.106-1(b), soliciting from a single source, for computer control system upgrade to include labor and travel for installation service at NIST.

Specific Requirements are as follows:

Computer Control System Upgrade:

Molly Software for two growth chambers and control hardware for existing Veeco Gen 10 Molecular Beam Epitaxy System

NAICS Code is 334413 –Semiconductor and Related Device Manufacturing, with a Size Standard of 1,2500 employees. NIST anticipates negotiating and awarding a firm-fixed-price purchase order to Veeco Equipment Corporation 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 3/29/2024. Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to angela.hitt@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted to angela.hitt@nist.gov no later than the date and time provided herein this posting.

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AN OPEN COMPETITION:

Veeco Equipment Corporation is the original manufacturer of the Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) system to be upgraded and therefore has access to proprietary control system information needed to complete this software and hardware upgrade. The system includes two separate crystal growth chambers, two chambers for pretreatment of substrates, a central transfer chamber with robotic transfer arm, and multiple interlocked vacuum pumps and vacuum gauges.   Veeco is the owner and developer of the Molly software suite that has been in use at NIST for over ten years and all their existing configuration files are compatible with the new control hardware and software. Failure to process this request would cause NIST over 200 hours to re-enter run control recipes, and over ten years of system performance monitoring data would be rendered inaccessible.