Naval Research Laboratory, Code 3220, 4555 Overlook Ave. S.W., Washington, D.C. 20375-5326

66 -- MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY SYSTEM SOL N00173-00-R-HA01 POC Hilda R. Abdon, Contract Specialist, Code 3220.HA, (202) 767-0682, Wayne A. Carrington, Contracting Officer E-MAIL: Click Here, ABDON@CONTRACTS.NRL.NAVY.MIL. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation 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. This solicitation, N00173-00-R-HA01, is a request for proposal (RFP). The incorporated provisions and clauses of this acquisition are those in effect for Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Federal Acquisition Circular 97-and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) through Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation 91-13. The small business size standard for this acquisition is 100 and the SIC code is 5049. This acquisition is unrestricted. The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has a requirement for Molecular Beam Epitaxy System (MBE) and its accessories. I. OVERVIEW The contractor must certify the offered equipment meets or exceeds the following specifications. The government has the right to refuse any variance from these specifications. These are the specifications for the procurement of a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system for the Electronics Science and Technology, Optical Sciences, and Chemistry Divisions. The required items are listed in Section II. Section III includes overall performance requirements for the system. Requirements for prior experience of the vendor are included in section IV. Several optional items are listed in section V. Prospective vendors are asked to provide a detailed system description (including drawings where appropriate) and quotation for the required items (single price). Vendors may also include any or all of the optional items with an individual price for each item. NRL reserves the right to purchase some, all, or none of the optional items. Delivery requirements are listed in section VIII. II. Required Items A. Epitaxy Chamber: an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber made of 304 Stainless Steel. All components that reach temperatures in excess of 175oC during normal MBE operation must be made of materials that do not decompose significantly at high temperatures (tantalum, molybdenum, or pyrolytic boron nitride). The chamber must be configured in a true vertical geometry with the substrate surface completely horizontal (face-down) during growth; this design will minimize particulates on the wafer surface. Optimal film uniformity, maximum source capacity, and interchangeability of cells is required; hence, the growth chamber cannot be tilted. The chamber will include: 1. Liquid nitrogen cryoshroud(s) surrounding the epitaxy volume of the chamber and the titanium sublimation filaments. Cells should be thermally isolated from one another such that heating one cell will not affect adjacent cells. 2. A nude ion UHV gauge for flux measurements with a power supply. The flux gauge must be retractable, allowing movement from a recessed position to the measurement position (within 1 cm of the sample position during growth).It cannot be attached to the sample manipulator. It must be mounted on a separate, independent flange; this will make it easier to repair or replace. 3. Bakeout system: dismountable enclosure with power supply, controller, and timer, capable of heating the chamber to at least 175oC. Design must allow the growth chamber to be baked separately from the rest of the system. 4. Transfer gate valve: will provide UHV isolation between the growth and preparation chambers. 5. Platen manipulator: will hold wafers up to 3 inches in diameter and include: a. Heater capable of operation up to 775oC b. Thermocouple c. Power supply with PID regulation d. Continuous rotation (0 to at least 30 RPM) with programmable azimuthal position search mode. e. To allow precise ellipsometry measurements, the manipulator must be wobble-free (<0.1o wobble) f. The system must be designed such that the transfer of wafers to the growth manipulator does not require the use of any x,y, or z movement of the manipulator, including the use of a manipulator bellows. g. Manipulator must allow sample rotation. No other movement of the manipulator is permitted. h. Manipulator must allow backside substrate measurements for the future addition of a straight quartz rod. The manipulator design must provide for no bends in the quartz rod (to maximize the optical signal). The use of flexible optical fibers or the like is not acceptable. 6. Ports for the items listed below. Designating one port for two uses is not allowed. For example, the normal incidence (RDS) port cannot also be counted as an effusion source port. a. Ten effusion sources. It must be possible to load liquid source material into any and all effusion cells in the system. Cells must all be at the same angle to the vertical to allow maximum flexibility and source capacity. b. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) gun (0.5-1.5o angle of incidence) c. RHEED screen (0.5-1.5o angle of incidence) d. Retractable nude ion gauge e. Ten shutter assemblies for effusion sources f. Reflection Difference Spectroscopy (RDS) or transmission thermometry; normal incidence to sample required g. Two for ellipsometry measurements; must be symmetrical, at 67-77o from vertical (near the Brewster angle for GaAs, GaSb, and InAs) h. Ion gauge i. Venting valve j. Platen manipulator k. Ion pump l. Two for transfer viewing m. Quadrupole residual gas analyzer n. Transfer gate valve 7. Shutters or curtains to minimize deposition on the RHEED screen and transfer-viewing ports. B. Pumping System for Epitaxy Chamber: an ion pump capable of standard pumping speeds of at least 400 l/s including a power supply and bakeout equipment; a titanium sublimation unit including a power supply and at least 5 filaments; and a high-sensitivity ion gauge (10-5 to 10-11 Torr range) with controller. The TSP must have an LN2 cryoshroud for improved pumping efficiency. C. Preparation (Buffer) Chamber: an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber made of 304 Stainless Steel. It will include: 1. Hardware to hold a permanent resident cassette in the preparation chamber that can hold at least two platens (e.g. for RHEED calibration samples or other samples on which additional growth will be performed at a later time.) 2. Transfer mechanism to allow sample transfer between Preparation Chamber and Epitaxy Chamber and between Preparation Chamber and Loading Chamber. 3. Platen outgassing station: must include outgassing oven capable of temperatures of at least 400oC, including power supply, PID regulation, and thermocouple. A means of transferring samples from the cassette to the outgassing station must also be included. 4. Bakeout system: bakeout is to be performed using a combination of any of the following: formed bakeout boxes with heating elements, UHV-compatible internal quartz lamps, metal heating bands, or flexible stainless steel braid-covered heating tapes and blanket-style shrouds with the appropriate power supplies, thermocouples and timers/controllers. Must be able to reach bake-out temperatures of at least 120oC. 5. Ports for: a. Connection to Loading Chamber b. Connection to Epitaxy Chamber c. Platen Degassing Stage d. Pumping System e. Windows for viewing transfers to Loading and Epitaxy Chambers f. Ion Gauge D. Pumping System for Preparation Chamber: an ion pump capable of standard pumping speeds of at least 200 l/s including a power supply and bakeout equipment; a titanium sublimation unit including a power supply and at least 4 filaments; and a high-sensitivity nude ion gauge (10-5 to 10-11 Torr range) with controller. E. Loading Chamber: an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber made of 304 Stainless Steel. It will include: 1. Loading cassette capable of holding at least five platens that can be brought into the preparation chamber, for a total sample capacity of at least seven platens. 2. Fast-loading door 3. Transfer gate valve: will provide UHV isolation between the loading and preparation chambers. 4. Transfer mechanism to allow cassette transfer between Preparation Chamber and Loading Chamber. 5. Ports for: a. Pumping systemb. Ion gauge c. Connection to Preparation Chamber d. Venting e. Fast-loading door F. Pumping System for Loading Chamber: a turbomolecular drag and oil-free backing pump capable of pumping the chamber from 760 Torr to 10-6 Torr in 15 minutes; and pressure gauge(s) (10-7 to 760 Torr range) with controller(s). G. Evaporation Sources 1. Gallium Cell: dual filament cell including two DC power supplies, two PID temperature controllers, two sets of cables, and two thermocouples. SCR power control for heating cell filaments is not acceptable. Cell must be capable of reaching a temperature of at least 1350oC when loaded with an empty crucible. A PBN crucible with a capacity of at least 60 cc must be included. 2. Valved Arsenic Cracker Cell: must be capable of producing beams of As4 and As2. Independent heating of the base and cracking zone is required, to include two DC power supplies, two PID temperature controllers, two sets of cables, and two thermocouples. SCR power control for heating cell filaments is not acceptable. A valve between the base and cracking zone and an automated valve position controller are also required. Cracking zone must be capable of reaching a temperature of at least 1000oC. The cell capacity must be at least 500 cc. This cell may be water cooled, but the cooling must be external to the vacuum, such that a water leak would not affect the system vacuum. 3. Silicon Cell: single filament cell including DC power supply, PID temperature controller, cables, and thermocouple. SCR power control for heating cell filaments is not acceptable. Cell must be capable of reaching a temperature of at least 1350oC when loaded with an empty crucible. A PBN crucible with a capacity of at least 5 cc must be included. H. Shutter Assemblies and Control 1. Nine self-contained shutter assemblies with no bearings located on the vacuum-side. Shutters and shutter rods must be composed of high-purity tantalum and/or high-purity molybdenum. Means must be provided for electronic control of shutter motion. Shutters must be stepper motor driven and not pneumatic. In the closed position, shutters must reduce a 1.0 monolayer/sec source flux to the sample by at least a factor of 100, as measured by the in situ flux monitor. Shutter assemblies must be removable through their own mounting flange. It is not acceptable to have to remove another flange or component to replace a shutter. Vendors must prove how their system design meets these criteria by providing appropriate drawings. 2. Main shutter: must be composed of high-purity tantalum and/or high-purity molybdenum. In the closed position, it must effectively block fluxes from all source shutters. In the open position, it must not block any of the source fluxes. Means must be provided for electronic control of shutter motion. I. RHEED: electron gun capable of accelerating voltages of at least 12 keV, including: 1. A power supply and control 2. Means for focusing and positioning the beam 3. Fluorescent screen at least 14 cm in diameter mounted on deposition chamber J. Sample Mounting: Samples must be face down at all times throughout the transfer and growth process. To avoid slip-line formation, indium-free mounting of the wafer is required without the use of backside securing rings, clamps or the like. III. Overall System Specifications A. Vacuum Requirements 1. Epitaxy Chamber: with cells at 20oC and no LN2 flowing, must reach a pressure of 5 x 10-10 T 24 hours after a bake. With cells at normal idle temperatures (600oC for Ga and Si, and 200oC for As), must reach 2 x 10-10 T two hours after cool-down with LN2. 2. Preparation Chamber: must reach a pressure of 5 x 10-10 T 24 hours after a bake. 3. Loading Chamber: after a 5-minute vent to atmosphere, must reach 10-6 T after 15 minutes of pumping. B. Epitaxial Material Quality: to be achieved two weeks from first growth performed on system. 1. Thick layers (> 4 mm) of GaAs grown on GaAs(SI) at a rate of 1.0 monolayers/sec with a background doping concentration (electron or hole) less than 8 x 1014/cm3. 2. Thick layers (> 1 mm) of GaAs grown on GaAs(SI) at a rate of 1.0 monolayers/sec with an oval defect density less than 100/cm2. 3. GaAs (2x4) and c(4x4) surface reconstructions must be clearly observable by RHEED. Monolayer growth oscillations for GaAs must also be observable by RHEED. C. System must have one fixed position for growth and sample transfer. The cell fluxes must converge at this point for optimal growth uniformities of 1.5% across a 75 mm sample. This requirement applies to both layer thickness (e.g. GaAs) and doping densities (e.g. Si). D. Flux Transients: must be less than 5% for all cells under normal operating conditions. IV. Prior Experience of Vendor: The proposed system must be an off-the-shelf item, not a new design. The vendor must have an established reputation for providing reliable, high-quality, complete MBE systems. Specifically, the vendor must have an established customer base with at least 100 MBE systems installed worldwide. At least 25 of those systems must be substantially similar to the proposed system (i.e. same vertical growth geometry and cell design). At least 5 of the 25 must have met the specifications in III. The vendor should provide a user list for these 5 systems and a point-of-contact for each. V. Optional Items A. Indium cell: single filament cell including DC power supply, PID temperature controller, cables, and thermocouple. Cell must be capable of reaching a temperature of at least 1350oC when loaded with an empty crucible. A PBN crucible with a capacity of at least 50 cc must be included. B. Second Indium cell: single filament cell including DC power supply, PID temperature controller, cables, and thermocouple. Cell must be capable of reaching a temperature of at least 1350oC when loaded with an empty crucible. A PBN crucible with a capacity of at least 50 cc must be included. C. Second Gallium Cell: dual filament cell including two DC power supplies, two PID temperature controllers, two sets of cables, and two thermocouples. Cell must be capable of reaching a temperature of at least 1350oC when loaded with an empty crucible. A PBN crucible with a capacity of at least 60 cc must be included. D. Aluminum Cell: single filament cell including DC power supply, PID temperature controller, cables, and thermocouple. Cell must be capable of reaching a temperature of at least 1350oC when loaded with an empty crucible. A PBN crucible with a capacity of at least 50 cc must be included. E. Beryllium cell: single filament cell including DC power supply, PID temperature controller, cables, and thermocouple. Cell must be capable of reaching a temperature of at least 1350oC when loaded with an empty crucible. A PBN crucible with a capacity of at least 5 cc must be included. F. Gallium Telluride cell: single filament cell including DC power supply, PID temperature controller, cables, and thermocouple. Cell must be capable of reaching a temperature of at least 1350oC when loaded with an empty crucible. A PBN crucible with a capacity of at least 50 cc must be included. G. Quadrupole Mass Analyzer: for residual gas analysis in the 1-100 amu range. Power supplies, control unit, and interface must be included. H. Quadrupole Mass Analyzer: for residual gas analysis in the 1-300 amu range. Power supplies, control unit, and interface must be included. I. Shutter assembly for 10th Cell: self-contained assembly with no bearings located on the vacuum-side. Shutter must be composed of high-purity tantalum and/or high-purity molybdenum. Means must be provided for electronic control of shutter motion. In the closed position, shutter must reduce a 1.0 monolayer/sec source flux to the sample by at least a factor of 100, as measured by the in situ flux monitor. J. Uninterruptible Power Supply: must be capable of supplying power to Al and Ga cells to allow a controlled ramp-down in the event of a power interruption. K. Valved Sb Cracking Cell: must be capable of producing beams of Sb2. Independent heating of the base and cracking zone is required, to include two DC power supplies, two PID temperature controllers, two sets of cables, and two thermocouples. A valve between the base and cracking zone and an automated valve position controller are also required. The cell capacity must be at least 200 cc. L. Valved P Cracking Cell: must be capable of producing beams of P2. Independent heating of the base and cracking zone is required, to include two DC power supplies, two PID temperature controllers, two sets of cables, and two thermocouples. A valve between the base and cracking zone and an automated valve position controller are also required. The cell capacity must be at least 200 cc. The cell must be interlocked to prevent sublimation of P if the cracking zone temperature is too low. A stable P2 flux is required: variation of less than 1% over two hours. VI. WARRANTY AND SUPPORT The contractor must offer the government at least the same warranty terms as offered in its standard commercial contracts against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one year from the date of the completion of installation. VII. INSTALLATION AND TRAINING There must be complete installation and operation of the Molecular Beam Epitaxy System of no less than two days of training on start-up and technical assistance (on-site training) immediately succeeding completion of the installation of the equipment mentioned herein. Training must cover all mechanical, optical, electrical and software features. VIII. DELIVERY AND ACCEPTANCE Delivery and Acceptance is the Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave. S.W. Washington, DC 20375-5326, FOB Destination, no later than 8 months from date of award. The FAR and DFAR provisions and clauses sited herein are incorporated by reference into this solicitation. Offerors are advised to propose in accordance with the provision at FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items. The proposal must demonstrate an understanding of all requirements covered in the RFP's terms and conditions. General statements that the offer can or will comply with the requirements, that standard procedures will be used, that well known techniques will be used, or paraphrases the RFP's Specifications in whole or in part will not constitute compliance with these requirements concerning the content of the technical proposal. The government intends to award a contract resulting from this solicitation to that responsible offeror proposing the lowest price for the Supplies and Services that has been determined to comply with the requirement of the solicitation. Offerors are advised to include with their offer a completed copy of the following provisions: FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, DFARS 252.212-7000 and DFARS 252.225-7000, Buy American Act and Balance of Payments Program. The following FAR clauses apply to this acquisition: FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial items, FAR 52.212-5, Contract Term and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes of Executive Orders-Commercial Items. The additional clauses that are applicable to this acquisition are FAR 52.203-6, FAR 52.219-4, FAR 52.219-8, FAR 52.219-9, FAR 52.219-14, FAR 52.219-25, FAR 52.219-26, FAR 52.222-26, FAR 52.222-35, FAR 52.222-36, FAR 52.222-37, FAR 52.225-3, FAR 52.232-33, and FAR 52.247-64. The claus Posted 02/02/00 (W-SN421070). (0033)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0264 20000204\66-0007.SOL)