36 -- UHV VACUUM SPUTTERING SYSTEM FOR DEPOSITION OF THIN FILMS

Notice Date

March 7, 2001

Contracting Office

NASA/Glenn Research Center, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, OH 44135

ZIP Code

44135

Solicitation Number

RFO3-168726

Response Due

March 22, 2001

Point of Contact

Jon C. Schultz, Contract Specialist, Phone (216) 433-2764, Fax (216) 433-2480, Email Jon.C.Schultz@grc.nasa.gov

E-Mail Address

Jon C. Schultz (Jon.C.Schultz@grc.nasa.gov)

Description

This notice is 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; offers are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This notice is being issued as a Request for Offer (RFO)for 1 ea. Vacuum Sputtering System for Deposition of Thin Films as follows: A. The deposition system will be used to support research at GRC in the areas of high-temperature sensors and thin film micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). The most important near-term application of this system will be the development of durable high-temperature thin film sensors. The sensors will be composed of a variety of materials, from metals such as platinum and palladium-chrome alloys, to ceramics such as alumina. These materials, configured in a variety of multi-layer structures, will be investigated to determine the optimum structure for the sensors. The deposition system will need the capability to deposit films onto cooled substrates to prevent the overheating of the photoresist used in photolithographic processes, and it will also need the capability to heat the substrate to form a defined crystalline structure for depositing ceramics. The accuracy and longevity of the sensors at high temperatures are also dependent on the purity of the films that are deposited, such that an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) deposition system is required. To improve the throughput of the different types of sensor designs, a loadlock is required to shorten pumpdown time and to preserve the purity of the system. The success of the research in the thin film sensors at GRC is dependent on reproducible results studied under precisely known conditions. Therefore, the system shall have the capability for the depositions to occur with adjustable, well-controlled conditions. B.Description: The deposition system shall be comprised of the following subsystems:1) Process chamber: a)The UHV process chamber shall be fabricated using 304 stainless steel. With the exception of the substrate holder rotary feedthrough, the process chamber shall be fully metal sealed to atmosphere. b) Process chamber shall be configured with ports for four (4) UHV magnetron sputter guns. Three (3) sputter sources shall be supplied with the system; the remaining sputter source port shall be blanked off. c) Sputter sources shall be configured in a sputter-down orientation. d) The target to substrate distance shall be no greater than 7 inches, measured from the center of the target, along a line perpendicular to the target. e) Shielding (e.g. chimneys) shall be provided to prevent cross-contamination of targets when co-sputtering. f) Each sputter source shall have a pneumatically operated shutter with a UHV, metal sealed, magnetically coupled, rotary feedthrough. g) Process chamber shall include a 6 inch diameter or larger viewport with shutter, fully metal sealed to atmosphere. h) Process chamber shall include Conflat-compatible ports for a turbo pump, a loadlock, and for gauging and instrumentation. Spare, blanked, Conflat-compatible ports shall be provided for expansion. i) The seal for the process chamber door or lid shall be a combination wire/o-ring seal. 2) Substrate holder: a) Substrate holder shall accommodate samples from 1 cm square to 6 inch diameter. b) Substrate holder shall rotate under vacuum into position under one of four gun positions in the process chamber. c) The rotary feedthrough for the substrate holder shall be FerroFluidic with a leak rate, for static and dynamic testing, of less than 10 -11 standard cc/sec of He. The rotary feedthrough shall withstand bakeout at 100 degrees Celsius. d) Substrate holder shall include a heater and temperature controller to allow heating of the substrate to temperatures from 100 :C to at least 600 :C. e) Substrate holder shall include substrate cooling capability to 10 :C. This may be a separate station on the substrate holder to prevent interference between the heating and cooling elements. f) Shields shall be provided to minimize deposition on the substrate holder assembly and chamber. 3) Loadlock: a) A loadlock shall provide transfer of substrates to the process chamber substrate holder. Loadlock shall accommodate substrates from 1-cm square to 6 inch diameter. b) The vendor shall provide two spare substrate carriers for a total of three carriers. Each substrate carrier shall have threaded holes to allow the mounting clips to be repositioned as needed to mount 4 inch and 6 inch wafers. c) Loadlock shall be constructed of 304 stainless steel. Loadlock to process chamber isolation valve shall be metal-sealed to atmosphere. d) Loadlock shall have independent rough and turbo vacuum pumping, and independent vacuum gauging. 4) Vacuum pumping system: a) Process chamber pump shall be a turbo pump or cyro pump, capable of pumping the system chamber at 500 l/s minimum, backed by a Fomblin-oil-sealed rotary vane pump. A mist eliminator and foreline trap shall be provided. If a cryopump is used, adequate purging of the trapped gases shall be provided for regenerating the pump. b) The process chamber to pump isolation valve shall be a pneumatically actuated gate valve, metal sealed to atmosphere with a viton seat and an 8 inch aperture. The valve shall close automatically in the event of a power failure. c)Loadlock shall be pumped using a turbo pump, backed by a Fomblin-oil-sealed rotary vane pump. A mist eliminator and foreline trap shall be provided. d) Pneumatic valves shall be provided to enable process chamber roughing and loadlock pumpdown. 5) Magnetron sputter sources: a) Three (3) magnetron sputter sources shall be provided. b) Sputter sources shall be rated for continuous operation at 1000 W DC and 600 W RF. c) Sputter sources shall be fully UHV compatible. All vacuum-to-air and vacuum-to-water seals shall be metal. d) Sputter sources shall accept targets with a diameter of 3 in. and thicknesses of 0.125 in. and 0.250 in. e) Magnets shall be isolated from cooling water to minimize corrosion. f) Position of the magnets shall be adjustable, from outside the chamber, to enable the magnetic field to be optimized for the sputtering of magnetic and non-magnetic materials. g) Magnets shall be removable from outside chamber for system bakeout. h) Sputter sources shall provide gas injection at the target. i) Sputter sources shall be mounted on Conflat-compatible flanges. 6) Sputter source power supplies: a) One (1) Advanced Energy RF power supply with automatic matching network capable of running continuously at 500 W or greater. Equivalent models shall not be substituted in this instance because interchangeability with existing NASA-owned Advanced Energy power supplies and matching networks is required to facilitate repair and upgrade. b) Two (2) Advanced Energy DC power supplies capable of running continuously at 500 W or greater. An equivalent model shall not be substituted in this instance because interchangeability with existing NASA-owned Advanced Energy power supplies is required to facilitate repair and upgrade. 7) Vacuum gauging: a) Shall include two high vacuum ionization gauges (one each in the process chamber and loadlock). Capable of reading better than 10-9 Torr. b) Shall include two Granville Phillips Convectron rough vacuum gauges (one each in process chamber and loadlock). An equivalent model shall not be substituted in this instance because interchangeability with existing NASA-owned Convectron gauges is required to facilitate repair. c) Shall include a MKS Baratron capacitance manometer, temperature controlled, with a 100 mTorr range, to monitor process chamber pressure. An equivalent model shall not be substituted in this instance because interchangeability with existing NASA-owned Baratron gauges is required to facilitate calibration and repair. 8) Gas distribution system: a) The gas distribution system shall be ultrahigh purity, capaable of greater than 99.999% purity gas flow. VCR-compatible connectors shall be used exclusively. System shall be capable of flowing argon and oxygen. b)Four MKS 1179A, or equal, mass flow controllers, 0 to 100 sccm of nitrogen, shall be provided. Salient characteristic of an equal mass flow controller shall be an accuracy of 1% of full scale or less over a range of 0 to 100 sccm of nitrogen, with VCR-compatible fittings, and shall be a direct form-fit replacement for MKS 1179A to allow for replacement with existing NASA-owned MKS 1179A mass flow controllers. A pneumatically operated diaphragm valve, metal sealed to atmosphere, shall be connected in series with each flow controller. c) Upstream pressure control shall be provided. Upstream pressure control mode shall allow for the operation of two mass flow controllers simultaneously, with a user settable flow ratio. d) A UHP gas line with a pneumatic diaphragm valve, metal sealed to atmosphere, shall be provided for chamber vent. 9)Frame: a) An open frame, which provides ready access to the sputter sources, and a separate instrumentation/electronics rack shall be provided. b) If process chamber is configured with a top or bottom plate rather than a hinged door, an electrical hoist shall be provided. The electrical hoist shall have a swinging mast to provide maximum access to interior of chamber. c)Frame shall have casters with leveling feet. d)Frame shall include the manifolds for the cooling water, compressed air, and gas needed for the system. 10) Automatic control system: a)Pump-down and deposition processes shall be performed under the control of a windows-based PC. b) The PC shall use a Pentium III processor (or higher grade Pentium processor), with a clock speed of at least 800 MHz, and at least 128 MB RAM. A hard drive of at least 10 GB capacity shall be provided. c) The automation software shall provide display of the system status, editing of deposition recipes, and datalogging. d) A manual process system controller that can override the PC control shall be provided as a backup control system. e) The control system shall allow for future upgrades to the system with minimal hardware modification or reprogramming. The control system shall support a total of 4 Advanced Energy magnetron power supplies, in any combination of DC and RF. 11) Water manifold: a) A manifold shall be provided for distribution of cooling water. b) Shutoff valves to individual components shall be provided. c) Critical components shall be interlocked using flow switches. 12) Power distribution: a) Shall use a single service drop, 208 VAC, 3 phase. b) An isolation transformer to minimize RF interference shall be provided. 13) Documentation: a) Mechanical and electrical drawings, component manuals, and complete software documentation shall be provided. C. Perfomance Specifications: The system shall meet the following specifications: 1) Base pressure shall be 5 x10-8 Torr or less. Vendor shall supply GRC with a bakeout system, if bakeout is needed to meet the base pressure specification. 2) Pumpdown of loadlock to 5 x 10-6 Torr shall be less than 6 minutes. 3) Process chamber shall allow crossover to high vacuum pumping within 5 minutes from atmosphere. 4) From crossover to high vacuum pumping, process chamber shall pump to 1 x 10-6 Torr in 3 minutes or less. 5) Deposition rate for platinum shall be 3 Angstroms/sec or greater with a uniformity over a 3 inch diameter wafer of 1 5% or less (with a 5 mm edge exclusion) at 250 W DC and 2.5 mTorr. 6) Deposition rate for alumina shall be 0.1 Angstroms/sec or greater with a uniformity over a 3 inch diameter wafer of 1 5 % or less (with a 5 mm edge exclusion) at 300 W DC and 2.5 mTorr. D. References: Extensive experience on the part of the vendor in the production of deposition systems similar to the one described here is highly valued. The proposal shall include three references, with addresses, telephone numbers and contact persons, to whom the company has supplied similar deposition systems. Descriptions of each of these deposition systems shall be provided. E. Delivery : Delivery shall be 180 days ARO. F. System Installation and Start-Up: Once the system is delivered, NASA GRC will connect the services, after which the contractor shall perform initial system start up and provide training for a minimum of two days. The provisions and clauses in the RFO are those in effect through FAC 97-21. This procurement is a total small business set-aside. See Note 1. The NAICS Code and the small business size standard for this procurement are 333295 and 500 employees respectively. The offeror shall state in their offer their size status for this procurement. All qualified responsible business sources may submit an offer which shall be considered by the agency. Delivery to Glenn Research Center, Shipping/Receiving -- Bldg. 21, 21000 Brookpark Rd., Cleveland, Ohio 44135 is required within 180 days ARO. Delivery shall be FOB Destination. The DPAS rating for this procurement is DO-C9. Offers for the items(s) described above are due by 4:30 local time, March 22, 2001 to Glenn Research Center, Plum Brook Station, ATTN: Jon C. Schultz, 6100 Columbus Avenue, Sandusky, Ohio 44870 and must include, solicitation number, FOB destination to this Center, proposed delivery schedule, discount/payment terms, warranty duration (if applicable), taxpayer identification number (TIN), identification of any special commercial terms, and be signed by an authorized company representative. Offerors are encouraged to use the Standard Form 1449, Solicitation/Contract/Order for Commercial Items form found at URL: http://procure.arc.nasa.gov/Acq/Forms/Index.html to submit a offer. Offerors shall provide the information required by FAR 52.212-1. If the end product(s) offered is other than domestic end product(s) as defined in the clause entitled "Buy American Act -- Supplies," the offeror shall so state and shall list the country of origin. FAR 52.212-4 is applicable. FAR 52.212-5 is applicable and the following identified clauses are incorporated by reference: 52.203-6, 52.219-8, 52.219-14, 52.222-21, 52.222-26, 52.222-35, 52.222-36, 52.222-37, 52.225-1, 52.232-34. The FAR may be obtained via the Internet at URL: http://www.arnet.gov/far/ The NFS may be obtained via the Internet at URL: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/regs/nfstoc.htm Questions regarding this acquisition must be submitted in writing no later than 4:30 local time, March 16,2001. Award will be based upon overall best value to the Government, with consideration given to the factors of proposed technical merits, price, and past performance; other critical requirements (i.e., delivery) if so stated in the solicitation will also be considered. Unless otherwise stated in the solicitation, for selection purposes, technical, price, and past performance are essentially equal in importance. It is critical that offerors provide adequate detail to allow evaluation of their offer. (SEE FAR 52.212-1(b)). Offerors must include completed copies of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications -- Commercial Items with their offer. These may be obtained via the internet at URL: http://ec.msfc.nasa.gov/msfc/pub/reps_certs/midrange/ . These representations and certifications will be incorporated by reference in any resultant contract. An ombudsman has been appointed -- See NASA Specific Note "B". Prospective offerors shall notify this office of their intent to submit an offer. It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor the following Internet site for the release of solicitation amendments (if any): http://nais.msfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/EPS/bizops.cgi?gr=C&pin=22 Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of this combination synopsis/solicitation and amendments (if any). See Note(s) 1. Any referenced notes can be viewed at the following URL: http://genesis.gsfc.nasa.gov/nasanote.html ( NOTE: PLEASE ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATION TO JON C. SCHULTZ, VOICE: 419-621-3370;FAX:419-621-3236;EMAIL:JON.C.SCHULTZ@GRC.NASA.GOV )

Web Link

Click here for the latest information about this notice (http://nais.msfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/EPS/bizops.cgi?gr=D&pin=22#RFO3-168726)

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010309/36SOL001.HTM (D-066 SN50F5P4)