National Institute of Standards & Technology, Acquisition & Assistance Div., Bldg. 301, Rm B117, Gaithersburg, MD 20899

66 -- X-RAY REFLECTIVITY SYSTEM SOL 52SBNB7C1207 DUE 062797 POC Keith Kennedy, (301) 975-6325, Contracting Officer, Lisa Jandovitz, (301) 975-6344 WEB: NIST Contracts Homepage, http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/contract.htm. E-MAIL: NIST Contracts Office, Contract@nist.gov. This a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. Furthermore, the Contracting Officer will employ the test program for certain commercial items specified in FAR Subpart 13.6. Offerors should submit three original copies to the above address no later than 3:00 p.m. on the date above specified. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to acquire one x-ray reflectivity system to perform high resolution x-ray reflectivity experiments that can determine the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of thin films up to 10-3mm thick. CTE is one of the most important properties of materials used in the semiconductor industries. For the multilayer structures in ultra-large scale integrated circuit (ULSI) devices, a mismatch in CTE between adjacent layers often results in thermal stress which can cause debonding. The layer thickness in today's ULSI devices is in the range of 10-3mm and there is an urgent need to develop a high precision technique to measure CTE of films in this thickness range. An X-ray reflectometer with the specified optics will meet this need. In addition, this reflectometer is needed to further the development of techniques for thin-film density and surface micro-roughness determination. The system shall contain the following components and shall meet or exceed the given specifications. The contractor shall provide system brochures as well as information as specifically requested. The system shall completely house electronics, generator, and goniometer in a single unit. ITEM 01 -- one each. I. Enclosure: A.The enclosure shall provide full radiation protection with metal construction, lead-glass window, and x-ray warning light(s). B. The enclosure shall provide front access door(s) with the following characteristics: 1. safety interlocked to tube shutter. 2. safety interlocked to x-ray generator. 3. If opened during data collection, shutter closes without powering down generator. 4. Closing door re-enables system without additional action. C. Side panels shall be removable. II. X-Ray Generator: A. The generator shall be compatible with an existing water to water heat exchanger by Haskris Co. (Model WW635, Serial No. A3475, 100 GPHr at 60 psi). B. The generator shall have: 1. diagnostic outputs, indicating the source of malfunction. 2. operation time counter. C. Equipment shall meet the following specifications. 1. Power rating of 3.0 kW or above. 2. Minimum voltage range of 20-55 kV. 3. Minimum tube current range of 5-60 mA. 4. Stability of tube voltage and current is +0.01% or better, for a +10% line voltage fluctuation. III. X-Ray Tube: A.X-ray tube shall be a 1.5 kW or higher power Cu tube with a 0.4 x 12mmor smaller focus spot and 4 beryllium windows. B. Other anode materials: e.g. Cr, Fe, Co, Mo, Ag and W shall be available for replacing the Cu tube. IV. Goniometer: The goniometer shall have the following characteristics: A. Theta-2theta geometry with a vertical sample state. The working space at the center shall accommodate a cylinder of 6.5 inches radius and 7 inches height. This cylinder must be able to rotate from -2.0 to 30 unhindered neither by the tube with monochromator attached nor by the detector with the monochromator in place. B. Independent motor operation of the theta and the 2theta circles Each circle shall be directly coupled with an angular encoder with a resolution of +0.0001 or better and driven by a DC motor with close loop servo control. Within the angular range of -2.0 to 80 the linearity of each cycle shall be +0.0025 or better. C. Computer or manual control of both circles: 1. Permits manual positioning of goniometer. 2. Provides absolute angular position of each circle. D. Computer-aided alignment of the sample and the detector axes. E. Axis specifications: 1. Angular range ofeach axis shall be from -2.0 to 80.0 or beyond. 2. Minimum selectable step size per drive shall be 0.0005 or less. V. Beam Path Optics: A. Shall include prealigned monochromators on both the incident and the detector sides of the beam path. The angular divergence of the monochromators shall be 12 arcseconds or better. The / of the incident beam monochromator shall be 1.3x10-4 or better. B. The above mentioned monochromators shall be interchangeable with slits without requiring any further alignment. C. A set of alignment hardware and software shall be included such that the incident beam can be aligned within 10 m of the center line of the goniometer circles. D. The interference fringes of 1 m thick films on a flat substrate can be readily resolved using the optics and the goniometer. NIST will provide a test sample upon request. VI. Detector System: A. shall have count rate of 5 x 10 5 cps or higher with 95% or above efficiency. B. shall have a dark current noise less than 0.5 cps. VII. Computer System and Peripherals: A. system shall include instrument interface board (microprocessor adapter board, MPA) including the following: 1. Bi-directional, serial communication with reflectometer. 2. On-board CPU and RAM. 3. Retains current data and data collection parameters and hardware settings if host computer is rebooted. VIII. Software: A. All software shall be PC-based. B. All data collection and display software shall be included for on-site demonstration of the above specification V.D. C. Data collection software shall enable dynamic data storage in ASCII format. D. Software shall include on-line help menu which includes the following: 1. All operations shall be controlled and monitored in real time from a monitor via mouse or keyboard. 2. Complete control of each axis of the goniometer, beam shutter and other accessories. Reflectivity, rocking and other scattering measurements shall be performed automatically. 3. Computer-aided alignment of instrument. 4. Has foreground/background data collection capability. a.Allows data evaluation and transmission during data collection.b. Ability to interrupt or abort, and restart data collection without loss of data. ITEM 02 -- one job. Installation: Contractor shall complete all aspects of installation within 45 days after the date of award. ITEM 03 -- 12 months. Labor and parts warranty. ITEM 04 -- one each. Documentation: 1. Complete, printed manuals and tutorials for all system software. Data file structure shall be provided.2. Complete, printed manuals and schematics for hardware. 3. Pre-installation guide detailing facility and environmental considerations and requirements. 4. Details of warranty coverage. ITEM 05 -- one job. Service: 1. The contractor shall provide no less than 48 hours response time for all service calls. 2. The contractor shall provide unlimited telephone assistance for life of system. Delivery FOB destination Gaithersburg, MD, 45 days after contract award. NIST will consider a proposal from all responsible sources. This solicitation is issued as a request for proposals (RFP). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 46. The following Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition: 52.212-1, Instruction to Offerors-Commercial, 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items. NIST will use the following factors to evaluate offers, in descending order of importance: 1. Technical solution-whether the offeror provides sufficient information to indicate understanding the requirements, comprehension in the performance of the equipment, and intention to meet or exceed the technical requirements. 2. Corporate experience-whether the offeror demonstrates clear evidence of specific corporate experience manufacturing x-ray diffraction systems and whether the offeror demonstrates existence of an established product line and reputation in the area of x-ray scattering. All evaluation factors other than price, when combined, are significantlymore important than price. However, as proposals become more equal in their technical merit, the evaluated price becomes more important. The government intends to make an award to one offeror whose proposal offers the greatest value to the government in terms of the evaluation factors above specified and price. Offerors shall include a completed copy of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, with their offer. This provision is available on the Internet at www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/contract.htm. The clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items and the following addendum apply to this acquisition: 52.203-3, Gratuities; 52.214-34, Submission of Offers in English Language; 5 2.214-35, Submission of Offers in U.S. Currency; 52.225-11, Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases; 52.233-2, Service of Protests; 52.233-3, Protest After Award ; 52.247-34 F.o.b. Destination. The clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items and these additional FAR clauses apply to this acquisition: 52.203-6, Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government, Alternate I; 52.203-10, Price or Fee Adjustment for Illegal or Improper Activity; 52.219-08, Utilization of Small Business Concerns and Small Disadvantaged Business Concerns; 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity; 52.222-35, Affirmative Action for Special Disabled and Vietnam Era Veterans; 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Handicapped Workers; 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era; 52.225-3, Buy American Act-Supplies, 52.225-21, Buy American Act-North American Free Trade Agreement- Implementation Act- Balance of Payments Program; NIST inserts the provision, " DOC Agency Level Protest Procedures," found on the Internet at www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/contract.htm. NIST contemplates award of a firm fixed- price contract as a result of this solicitation. Interested parties may access full text for any above listed clause on the Internet at http://www.gsa.gov/far/. (0160)

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