Multiple Gas Injection System
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seeks information on commercial vendors that are capable of providing a system to inject gaseous precursors into an FEI Helios NanoLab 650 dual beam system for material etching and electron/ion-beam induced deposition to support nanofabrication in the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST), NIST's nanotechnology user facility. The system will be sited and used as a shared resource accessible to researchers from industry, academia, NIST, and other government agencies in the CNST NanoFab. After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed and specifications are developed for the tools that can meet NIST's minimum requirements, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a Purchase Order. If at least two qualified small businesses are identified during this market research stage, then any competitive procurement that resulted would be conducted as a small business set-aside.
A Gas Injection System (GIS) controls the introduction of precursor gas into a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) or Focused Ion Beam (FIB) in such a way that the gas is directed over a sample surface and highly localized. The precursor gas may contain chemistry for etching of material or for deposition of solid material from a gaseous source using an electron or ion beam. A standard GIS only contains a single gas. The design of SEM/FIB dual beam instruments has a limited number of ports available with the optimal geometry for GIS mounting; meaning a limited number of gases may be used in the instrument. A multiple gas injection system that mounts in a single port increases the deposition capabilities of the instrument. In order to increase NIST's capability to serve users and provide improved process performance and productivity for nanofabrication, NIST has a need for a multiple gas injection system. The system shall meet the specifications described below.
1. General
The multiple gas injection system will be permanently mounted onto an FEI Helios 650 dual beam instrument and is intended to be used by researchers to control the temperature, flow, and positioning of precursor vapor to enable gas assisted etching and deposition of various materials onto a sample surface via beam assisted deposition.
2. System configuration
a. The system shall be mounted to an FEI Helios 650 (hereafter referred to as the host instrument) and include the following components:
(1) Hardware for precursor containment, temperature control, and precise injection control;
(2) An alternative vacuum path that allows purging of precursor pressures without effecting chamber vacuum and normal operation;
(3) A library of beam assisted deposition and etching recipes and associated control hardware and software.
b. The system must have capability for at least six (6) precursor sources to maximize system flexibility
c. The system must have a single needle delivery system to facilitate gas mixing and ease of use.
d. The system must provide motorized needle positioning with memory for saved positions.
e. The system must provide a safety feature to automatically close gas delivery valves to prevent chemical exposure to users when venting the vacuum chamber.
3. Instrument compatibility
a. The system must not interfere with the normal configuration or operation of the host instrument.
b. The system must not invalidate the current warranty of the host instrument
c. The system must be equipped with collision detection to minimize damage to the needle and sample surface when inserting the gas delivery needle.
d. The system control software shall integrate with the user interface of the host instrument to minimize current user re-training
4. System capability
a. The system should be able to perform gaseous precursor delivery of the following types:
i. Carbon;
ii. Platinum;
iii. Tungsten;
iv. Silicon oxides;
v. Water vapor;
vi. XeF2
b. The system must be able to deliver the precursor gasses into the vacuum chamber as specified in a process recipe.
c. The system shall be able to control substrate exposure to precursor gas by closing delivery valves at the end of a recipe.
d. The system shall be able to control and deliver mixtures of compatible precursor gasses according to the recipe set by the instrument user.
e. The system shall be able to automatically heat the precursor gasses to the optimal temperature.
f. The system shall be able to automatically cool one (1) or more precursor gasses when not in use to provide compatibility with precursors requiring refrigeration
g. The system shall be able to purge precursor gases between operations to prevent cross contamination between different chemicals.
NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large, foreign, and small businesses. Small businesses are defined under the associated NAICS code for this effort , as 334516, whose domestic sources having 500 employees or less. Please include your company's size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice.
Companies that manufacture single wafer spray cleaning tools are requested to email a detailed report describing their abilities to Lynda.Roark@nist.gov no later than the response date for this sources sought notice. The report should include achievable specifications and any other information relevant to your product or capabilities. Also, the following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice: 1. Name of the company that manufactures the system components for which specifications are provided. 2. Name of company(s) that are authorized to sell the system components, their addresses, and a point of contact for the company (name, phone number, fax number and email address). 3. Indication of number of days, after receipt of order that is typical for delivery of such systems. 4. Indication of whether each instrument for which specifications are sent to Lynda.Roark@nist.gov is currently on one or more GSA Federal Supply Schedule contracts and, if so, the GSA FSS contract number(s). 5. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in developing its minimum specifications and finalizing its market research.
Point of Contact
Lynda Roark, Contract Specialist, Phone (301) 975-3725, Fax (301) 975-8753, Email Lynda.Roark@nist.gov
Lynda M Roark, Contract Specialist, Phone 3019753725, Email Lynda.Roark@nist.gov - Patrick K Staines, Contracting Officer, Phone (301)975-6335, Fax (301)975-8884, Email patrick.staines@nist.gov
