Commander, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Acquisition Center, Research Development and Engineering Center, Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898-5000

A -- DEVELOPMENT OF PLASTIC ENCAPSULATED MICROCIRCUIT (PEM) COATING PROCESSES FOR MILITARY APPLICATIONS SOL DAAH01-99-R-RB01 DUE 052799 POC Deidra Barnes, Contract Specialist, AMSAM-AC-RD-BA, (256) 876-3139, or Harold Smith, Contracting Officer, (256) 876-0908 WEB: click here to go to the ManTech web site, http://mantech.iitri.org. E-MAIL: click here to contact Deidra Barnes, Contract Specialist, barnes-dd@redstone.army.mil. U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command (AMCOM), Redstone Arsenal, AL A. BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA)DAAH01-99-R-RB01: DEVELOPMENT OF PLASTIC ENCAPSULATED MICROCIRCUIT (PEM) COATING PROCESSES FOR MILITARY APPLICATIONS. OBJECTIVE: The Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center, AMCOM, is seeking interested parties for development, refinement, and enhancement of wafer-level processes that give semiconductor devices near-hermetic environmental protection. The objective of this Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) effort is to demonstrate and implement a protective coating that can be economically applied, accepted by the semiconductor industry, and provides the high level of environmental protection required by most military applications. DISCUSSION This BAA is soliciting proposals for a cooperative agreement with a vertically integrated team for the manufacturing process development, reliability testing, modeling, demonstration, and production line/system implementation of a coating process performed at the wafer level to provide integrated circuits (ICs) with near-hermetic protection. DoD has been mandated to utilize commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components wherever possible. This has led weapon system managers and system integrators in the Defense industry to attempt rapid integration of PEMs into their systems, leading to system reliability, field performance, and lifecycle repair cost concerns. Common PEMs failure mechanisms are: signal trace corrosion due to ionic contamination and moisture entry into voids in the silicon nitride passivation, galvanic corrosion on bond pads due to dissimilar metal contact (aluminum and gold), delamination of the epoxy encapsulant, and cracking of the encapsulant due to moisture absorption and rapid heating. Ceramic packaged hermetic circuits, currently used in the majority of missile systems, generally do not have these failure mechanisms, but are often 10 times more expensive than equivalent PEMs and are quickly becoming obsolete as the military share of the overall electronics market continues to shrink. Required shelf life of Army missiles range from 10-20 years and longer under a variety of uncontrolled storage and operational conditions. Current PEMs have not been proven to be reliable under long term unpowered storage in harsh environments. To make PEMs a viable alternative and replacement to ceramic packaged devices, an inexpensive, effective protection scheme must be used to eliminate common PEMs failure mechanisms. Initial results under an Air Force Science & Technology program have shown near hermetic protection capabilities for Dow Corning's ChipSealTM. Benefits from the availability of such a protective coating include increased applicability of commercial ICs to harsh military environments, unit cost at or near the price of commercial ICs, and increased flexibility for military use of new and advanced semiconductor packaging. A ChipSealTM or similar approach appears to be a potential low risk, near term solution to the previously stated challenges for military system production. REQUIREMENTS The tasks required for this effort include (but are not limited to): A) Selection of protective material(s) and baseline deposition processes (this effort is expected to contain minimum materials down-select or development resources); B) Refinement of materials and processes for a hermetic-like coating applied at the wafer level; C) Utilization of Design of Experiments (DOE) techniques to determine effectiveness of coating, yield improvements at wafer probe and final packaged level, and potential reliability/performance/cost improvements not related to hermeticity (scratch resistance, epoxy adhesion, environmentally acceptable processes, etc.); D) Assembly of beta process line(s) at semiconductor manufacturing/packaging participant facilities; E) Qualification and validation of beta process lines; F) Fabrication of test hardware and execution of the DOE plan, G) Conducting qualification tests on military hardware to verify compatibility with existing designs and demonstrate applicability of this process to military systems; H) Updating applicable Physics of Failure models to include characteristics of packaged integrated circuits utilizing this coating; I) Examination through tests and discussion with the semiconductor industry as to the applicability of the proposed protective coating to be used as a replacement for standard silicon nitride passivation; J) Conducting periodic workshops with Government and Industry on status of this effort; K) Demonstration/implementation of multiple part number production on participating semiconductor manufacturers' lines. In addressing the above efforts, candidate proposals must also identify and outline how these additional requirements will be satisfied: 1. The proposed team shall incorporate organizations from the following sectors of the electronics industry: at least one major DoD weapon system supplier/integrator, at least two semiconductor fabricators, a materials provider, a third party semiconductor packaging/processing house, and a certified, independent component testing house. Semiconductor manufacturing/component reliability associations and military grade component manufacturers/suppliers may also be invited to participate if they are value-added. If an independent component testing house is not proposed, an approach that can guarantee the continuity and consistency equated with a single testing house shall be proposed. Participants in this effort should be chosen in part based on willingness and ability to incorporate developed technology into their production lines. To insure broad adoption, the proposed coating processes for integrated circuit protection should not be made proprietary. 2. The proposal shall detail the materials, semiconductor fabrication, packaging, and test capabilities of the team. The proposed protective materials and processes shall include protection of IC interconnection sites. The proposed materials and processes must be compatible with and provide the same level of protection to silicon, germanium, III-V, and II-VI compound substrate materials/processes and IC metallization materials/processes. The proposed materials and processes must be compatible with current packaging methods and processes. 3. The proposal shall include an implementation plan detailing how the results of this effort will be demonstrated and implemented in semiconductor fabrication/packaging facilities and demonstrated on specific weapon system hardware. The plan shall include a methodology for benefits estimating/tracking and a commercialization plan with a timeline. 4. The proposal shall include a plan for developing a business case and reasoning for the semiconductor industry to adopt the proposed method as a protective coating for military, industrial, and commercial grade components. The plan shall also investigate the benefits and acceptability of incorporating the coating as an end-of-line process, third party service, as an enhancement to military/industrial/medical grade component suppliers, and as a replacement for standard integrated circuit passivation materials and processes. 5. The proposal shall contain sufficient detail to determine a minimum 1:1 cost sharing for this effort. Information on allowable in-kind cost sharing can be found in OMB circular A-110 and DoD 3210.6-R, "DoD Grant and Agreement Regulations". Although not admissible as cost sharing, leveraging of existing related federal programs is encouraged. CRITERIA The following is the Proposal's evaluation criteria: (NOTE -- Items 1 through 3 are in descending order of importance, with Item 1 being the most important. The subcriteria under items 1 through 3 are shown in descending order of importance.) 1. Technical * Auditable evidence of proposed materials and processes to provide hermetic-like environmental protection to integrated circuits. Materials and processes compatible with current semiconductor materials, fabrication equipment, and fabrication/packaging processes. Relative maturity of proposed materials and processes and associated risks. * Demonstrated understanding of the technical issues outlined in this announcement via thorough discussion of the issues, proposed methodology, and solutions. * Previous experiences and understanding of technical and programmatic issues regarding electronics reliability in military operational environments. * Background and experience in the areas of semiconductor and electronics manufacturing technology as reflected in previous activities, product line and personnel background, including relevant qualifications and time commitment of essential technical and managerial personnel. * Previous successful developments and implementations related to work to be performed in this effort. 2. Management * Adequacy of plan for materials/process refinement, testing, demonstration, implementation, and benefits tracking of the IC protection methodology. * Value added vertical integration of the proposed team and capabilities for refinement, cost reduction, demonstration and implementation of the proposed materials and processes. * Demonstrated willingness by semiconductor fabricators and third party vendors to test and implement the proposed materials and processes on their production lines. * Demonstration/implementation plan that includes multiple DoD weapon systems (including at least one Army missile system). * Explicitness of Letters of Participation/Endorsement in terms of concise work statements and willingness of team partners to fulfill their obligations. * Understanding of the goals of this effort and reflection of this understanding in the proposed resources, management structure, organization, technical approach and work emphasis, use of subcontracting, and leveraging of Government funds. * Adequacy and availability of the facilities and equipment for program execution. * Adequacy of policies on intellectual property, proprietary rights, and patent restrictions, especially in regards to how they limit technology transfer and rapid process adoption by industry. 3. Cost * Reasonable cost to the Government, including cost sharing by industry, other Government, and other participants in the form of matching funding, equipment, facilities, or other "in-kind" resources. Costs will be evaluated on the basis of cost realism. This pertains to the offeror's ability to project costs which are realistic and reasonable and which indicates whether the offeror understands the nature and scope of the work to be performed. Costs to the Government will not exceed the amount available for this program. * Minimum 1:1 cost sharing, cost sharing greater than 1:1 is encouraged. Cost sharing will be evaluated using the guidelines found in OMB Circular A-110 and DoD 3210.6-R, "DoD Grant and Agreement Regulations". * The commitment of up-front dollars/man-power rather than in-kind cost sharing. If in-kind cost sharing is proposed it should show a commitment to developing and implementing the proposed IC protection technology. ADMINISTRATIVE Ten copies of the proposal shall be submitted. The proposal shall consist of two parts, technical and management (Part I) and cost (Part II). Part I should not exceed 50 pages (12-point text), excluding resumes and exhibits. Resumes and exhibits should not exceed 40 pages. Part II shall not exceed 25 pages. The proposal shall contain a one-page abstract summarizing the proposed effort that is releasable to the public. All pages of the proposal, except the abstract page, will be marked with "Official Use Only: Source Selection Information: See FAR 3.104", and any proprietary pages should be marked accordingly. Part I shall include, as a minimum: 1) Proposer's cover page: with title, technical point(s) of contact, administrative point(s) of contact, pertinent phone numbers, fax numbers, and e-mail addresses, 2) Summary page(s) of organizations participating in the proposal: with title, technical point(s) of contact, administrative point(s) of contact, pertinent phone numbers, fax numbers, and e-mail addresses, 3) Locator matrix or index, identifying where specific announcement requirements and criteria are addressed in the proposal, 4) An organizational plan that outlines responsibilities of all the participants and will include a graphical representation of the hierarchy, structure, and interfaces between different elements of the team, 5) Overall technical plan with technical approach, applicable data, graphics, technical/programmatic schedules and milestones, 6) Draft demonstration, implementation, and commercialization plan(s), 7) Summary of related experience in electronics manufacturing, 8) A listing and description of facilities and equipment, 9) Organization and management plan, including subcontracting, 10) Statement regarding existence of, or intention to obtain, facility and personnel clearances for any proposed weapon system interaction/participation, 11) Type of support, if any, the offeror requests, e.g. facilities, equipment, materials, manpower, R&D resources, 12) Proposed statement of work. Part II shall contain as a minimum: (1) a one to-two page cost summary and (2) supporting pages, which shall include a detailed breakdown of labor categories, equipment, travel costs, and any other direct and indirect costs, including subcontract costs. The Army will accept proposals for a period of 45 calendar days after the date of this announcement; the Army will not accept proposals after this period. The Army reserves the right to select for award any, all, part, or none of the responses received and intends to incrementally fund any resultant agreement. A Cooperative Agreement shall be the instrument for this action. The offerors may be required to have or obtain security clearances up to and including the secret level for work contemplated under this announcement. The BAA is an expression of interest only and does not commit the Government to pay any proposal preparation costs for responding to this BAA. The Government shall not incur any cost for responses submitted. The Government shall not consider the cost of preparing proposals in this announcement as an allowable direct charge to any resulting cooperative agreement. It is, however, an allowable expense to the normal bid and proposal indirect cost as specified in FAR 31.205-18. Note that only the contracting officer has authorization to award Government agreements pursuant to this BAA. All responsible sources may submit a proposal, which shall receive consideration by the Army. The Army reserves the right to award to other than the lowest offeror. The Army intends to enter into a three year agreement for this effort. The total amount of Government funding available for this effort is approximately $5.0 million. The first year funding increment will be approximately $1.5 million. Submit all correspondence and proposals for the operation of the Center to: U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command Attn: AMSAM-AC-RD-BA/Deidra Barnes Bldg. 5400 Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898-5270 Proposals/presentations submitted via facsimile machine will not be considered. There will be no formal request for proposal or any further solicitation document issued in regard to this BAA. After review of the written proposal, an offeror may, at the Government's discretion, be requested to provide a comprehensive, oral presentation of the proposed methodology. For additional information concerning this solicitation please access the ManTech web site URL: http://mantech.iitri.org and click on Procurement. All questions concerning the solicitation shall be e-mailed to Deidra Barnes at barnes-dd@redstone.army.mil. Questions and answers will be posted to the aforementioned web site confidentially. The closing date of this solicitation is 27 May 99 at 4:00 p.m. CST. Posted 04/08/99 (W-SN317817). 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