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36 -- ULTRAHIGH VACUUM SPUTTERING SYSTEM FOR DEPOSITION OF MULTI-LAYER FILMS SOL RFO3-151282 DUE 070700 POC Jon C. Schultz, Contract Specialist, Phone (216) 433-2764, Fax (216) 433-2480, Email Jon.C.Schultz@grc.nasa.gov WEB: Click here for the latest information about this notice, http://nais.msfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/EPS/bizops.cgi?gr=D&pin=22#RFO3-1512 82. E-MAIL: Jon C. Schultz, Jon.C.Schultz@grc.nasa.gov. THIS NOTICE CONSTITUTES AMENDMENT NO. 2 TO THE COMBINED Synopsis/RFO FOR ULTRAHIGH VACUUM SPUTTERING SYSTEM FOR DEPOSITION OF MULTI-LAYER FILMS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS NOTICE. Companies shall acknowledge all amendment(s) in their offer. This notice serves as the official amendment to the subject solicitation and a written amendment will not be issued. The purpose of this amendment is to provide answers to submitted questions, revise the specifications and change the date for receipt of offers. The following questions and answers are provided:First, the overall layout.Confocal sputtering at a fixed target distance is something we have done before. What we haven't done is sputter up or sideways in this arrangement. The location, number, and sizes of additional ports depends on specific future requirements, and therefore impacts the layout, and the total volume. The "up or sideways" also tends to move the main pump to possibly undesirable locations on the main chamber, or else makes the main chamber larger than desirable for the intended base pressure. If the user has a preferred layout in mind, it could help us considerably. Second, our experience with off-axis sources has been such that we doubt achievement of the given uniformity figures with 3" sources at 7" throw on a 6" substrate since the rotation axis winds up in the center and doesn't help reduce the radial non-uniformity. Our feeling is that the uniformity may be achievable under very specific conditions, and perhaps not for all materials at all reasonable pressures. We'd hate to commit to an unworkable geometry,so if the user has any references to guide us, it would be appreciated. The system base pressure "without bakeout "is optimistic. There will be quite a lot of hardware, and surface area, plus a viton-sealed load lock valve and viton seal in the main pump/throttle valve, and an unbakeable ferrofluid feedthrough. Bakeout is mentioned under 5g, but not specified. We'd suggest 150C with external heaters, and local cooling on the elastomer and ferrofluid parts, at least before measuring a base pressure in the -9 range. Once baked, the system should only require sporadic further baking for normal operation. Another consideration is easy source access for, say,magnet removal or adjustment. Having the source array under the chamber might be clumsy. Also, since the intent is non-reacted films, could a Ti sublimation source be a worthwhile addition for gettering the chamber before sputtering? There is no mention of a rate and thickness monitor, or monitors. While it is true that sputter sources generate repeatable rates, and therefore can be calibrated at specific pressures and power inputs, we usually see requirements for some species of monitor, in-situ or external, where adjustable stoichiometry is desired. If, say, ellipsometry or reflectance monitors are desired, provision has to be made in the initial layout. The sputter gases are not specified. Can we assume that either no gases that represent cryopump hazards in high concentrations will be used, or that such gases may be pre-mixed externally to the delivered system? The following ANSWERS are provided: The layout of the system (including the number and location of the spare ports) is not specified in order to avoid locking out a "stock" system that would meet NASA's requirements. Spare ports will be used to add instrumentation,such as resonant crystal thickness monitors.The focal point of the sputter sources should occur on the axis of substrate rotation,at a position behind the substrate. The position of the focal point will be chosen by the manufacturer to provide the specified uniformity. No Ti sublimation source is required.The sputter gas is argon. As a result of the above Q&A, specification C.1 is revised to read as follows: C.1. Base pressure shall be 6x10-9 Torr or less. Vendor shall supply GRC with a bakeout system,if bakeout is needed to meet the base pressure specification. Additionally, in specification D. References: the number of references to be submitted with the proposal is changed from five to three. The due date for receipt of offers is extended to 4:30p.m.,local time, July 7,2000. Offers shall provide the information stated in the synopsis/RFO posted on the NASA Acquisition Internet Service (NAIS) on June 15,2000 and published in the CBD on June 15,2000. Documents related to this solicitation will be available over the Internet. These documents are in Microsoft Office Suite (Word 6.0, Excel 5.0, or PowerPoint 4.0) format and reside on a World Wide Web (WWW) server, which may be accessed using a WWW browser application. The Internet site, or URL, for the NASA/GRC Business Opportunities home page is http://nais.msfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/EPS/bizops.cgi?gr=CL&pin=22 NOTE: ALL COMMUNICATION SHALL BE DIRECTED TO THE POINT OF CONTACT, JON C. SCHULTZ, AT VOICE:419-621-3370 OR EMAIL: JON.C.SCHULTZ@LERC.NASA.GOV Posted 06/21/00 (D-SN467128). (0173)

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