Probe Station Thermal Chuck Chiller and Controller

This is a Notice of Proposed Contract Action under FAR Part 12 Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This notice is for information only; a solicitation will not be issued. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTATION. No contract will be awarded on the basis of offers received in response to this notice. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 334512 with a small business size standard of 500 employees.

AFRL requires a probe station thermal chuck chiller and controller wafer and die level measurements.  Detailed specifications are:

Chiller and controller for TP03000A Thermochuck system, to replace broken chiller and controller. Temperature Range: -60/+200 Deg.C.

Temperature Controller: includes IEEE-488 and RS-232 I/O communications, programmable cycle/ramp/soak; 115 Volt 60Hz, 100V 50Hz

Chiller: Stand-alone, self-contained cooler circulator; 115 Volt 60Hz, 100V 50Hz

Due to failure of current chiller unit and hardware obsolescence, the chiller and temperature controller must be replaced.  The replacement chiller and temperature controller must still be compatible with the probe station’s thermal chuck, an equally old and most expensive component.  The probe station is composed of equipment from three different equipment manufacturers, Cascade Microtech, KeySight, and Temptronic.  The Temptronic-branded item is the focus of this current acquisition effort.  Although it is conceivable any firm could manipulate or custom program any of the three brands of equipment, in the event of a failure Temptronic would neither support nor warrant work done on its product by another vendor, nor would it support or warrant a Temptronic item supplied by another vendor.  Temptronic maintains no reseller partnerships or agreements and is the sole authorized source for the required item. Temptronic is familiar with the configuration and operating status of the existing probe station and will ensure operation and compatibility with all other components of the probe station. 

To fulfill the requirement, the Government intends to negotiate a sole source contract with Temptronic Corporation, 41 Hampden Road, Mansfield, MA 02048 USA, (781) 688-2300, sales@inTESTthermal.com
 

This is a notice of proposed contract action and not a request for competitive proposals; however, all responsible sources may submit a capability statement or proposal, which shall be considered by the agency. All inquiries should be sent by email to Richard.Childres@us.af.mil. Responses must be submitted by the date/time listed on the notice. Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government in future procurements.

Responses received will be evaluated; however, a determination by the Government not to compete the proposed procurement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Government anticipates an award date on or about 25 AUG 2021.

A Sole Source Justification will be attached to the subsequent Notice of Award.