Sources Sought Notice for Electrochemical Workstation
The purpose of this sources sought notice is to conduct market research and identify potential sources of commercial products/services that satisfy the Government’s anticipated needs.
BACKGROUND
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Materials Measurement Laboratory, Materials Science and Engineering Division (https://www.nist.gov/mml/materials-science-and-engineering-division) is on the market for a electrochemical work station or more precisely a multichannel potentiostat needed to understand electrochemical deposition and etching processes relevant to the fabrication of advanced microelectronics chips and devices. In particular, the purpose of this procurement is to acquire a multichannel potentiostat/galvanostat that will be used to electrochemically deposit films for microelectronic interconnects, to elucidate mechanistic aspects of the electrochemical deposition and dissolution processes, and to optimize deposition processes used to obtain metallizations in patterned wafers of vias and line interconnects with the required electronic properties. Our proposed research work will span a large range of length scales from studies of macroscale cm2 area electrodes to submicron microelectrodes and will involve examining phenomena such as adsorption and charge transfer process that occur over a wide range of time scales that dictate our needs for a device with both high time and current resolution and large compliance.
NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a solution that will achieve the objectives described above, in addition to the following essential requirements:
Hardware:
A multichannel PC controlled potentiostat/galvanostat with at least two separate channels that allow independent operation of two separate electrochemical cells in either the potentiostatic or galvanostatic mode.
Each channel must be capable of measuring the measuring counter electrode potential with respect to the reference electrode (and in addition to measuring the working electrode potential and current). Each channel must be able to accomplish this independently, without using an additional channel.
Coupling of the channels for bipotentiostatic operation must be easily realized with the ability to control and monitor each electrode as one or both electrodes are subject to potential controlled perturbation or floated for potentiometric operation.
Both channels of the potentiostat must have an analog ramp generator capable of very fast scan rates
The potentiostat must be able to perform impedance measurements from the MHz to mHz frequency range.
The potentiostat must also be capable of measuring low currents down to 1 pA.
The potentiostat must include hardware for iR compensation.
At least one channel must be capable of higher power operation up to +/- 30 V and 2 A.
Each channel must be capable of floating mode operation.
Each channel must have externally accessible analog outputs of potential and current signals (i.e. E/I monitor outputs).
Each channel must have an external analog voltage signal input (with an input range of ±10 V) which can record an additional signal from external instrumentation simultaneously with current and potential measurements. This signal can be used for programmatic flow control of a multi-step process.
Each channel must have an external analog signal input that can be used to control the applied potential using a waveform generated by a separate device.
Each channel must have an analog signal output that can be set to a specified voltage (e.g. for RDE rotator control) with a range of ±10 V.
Each channel must have TTL inputs and outputs to enable synchronization of measurements with actions by other instrumentation.
Must have 16-bit or greater A/D and D/A converters.
The potentiostat/galvanostat should have an on-instrument data buffer but the maximum number of points collected for a given measurement must not be limited by the size of the on-board buffer. The buffer will allow measurements in progress to continue in case of an interruption in communications between the computer and instrument.
Software:
The software that controls the potentiostat must allow construction of multi-step protocols (including both galvanostatic and potentiostatic steps), with program flow-control options based upon time, current, working electrode potential, counter electrode potential, charge, derivative of working electrode potential with respect to time, and derivative of current with respect to time limits. It must be possible to include loops in sequences to allow steps to be repeated. It must be possible to save measurement protocols to files which can be reloaded by the software so that the same protocol can be run more than once without requiring the user to manually re-enter and reconfigure all of the steps in the sequence. Software should display open circuit potential while measurement sequences are not in progress. The instrument software must allow modification of measurement parameters (including those for the step currently being measured) while a measurement sequence is in progress without interruption of the measurement. Parameters that can be edited once the measurement has been started must include step time limits, charge limits, current setpoints in galvanostatic steps, potential setpoints in potentiostatic steps, potential limits in galvanostatic measurements, current limits in potentiostatic measurements, potential sweep rate in cyclic voltammetry measurements, and data recording time interval. The limits can be used as programmatic flow-control conditions. The user can select whether the program will move to a subsequent step or end the measurement sequence when a flow-control condition is met. It must be possible to specify at least two programmatic flow-control conditions in each step of the protocol. It must be possible for the user to reverse the scan direction during cyclic voltammetry measurements, to pause measurements, and to skip to the next step in multi-step experiments. Instrument software must plot measured values on computer screen while measurements are running. It must be possible to change the axis limits of the plotted data (i.e. zoom in and out) while measurements are in progress.
HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE
In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. Please include only the following information, readable in either Microsoft Word 365, Microsoft Excel 365, or .pdf format, in the response: Submit the response by email to the Primary Point of Contact and, if specified, to the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice. Please note that to be considered for award under any official solicitation, the entity must be registered and “active” in SAM at the time of solicitation response.
- Provide the complete name of your company, address, name of contact for follow-up questions, their email, their phone number and, if your company has an active registration in https://sam.gov, your company’s Unique Entity ID (UEI).
- Identify the equipment that your company sells that can meet the objectives addressed in the BACKGROUND section of this notice. For each product recommended to meet the Government’s requirement, provide the following:
- Manufacturer name
- Model number
- Technical specifications
- If your company is not the manufacturer, provide information on your company’s status as an authorized reseller of the product(s)
- Describe performance capabilities of the product(s) your company recommends to meet the Government’s requirements. Additionally, if there are other features or functions that you believe would assist NIST in meeting its objectives described above, please discuss in your response.
- Discuss whether the equipment that your company sells and which you describe in your response to this notice may be customized to specifications and indicate any limits to customization.
- Identify any aspects of the NIST market research notice, including instructions, and draft minimum specifications in the BACKGROUND section you cannot meet and state why. Please offer suggestions for how the market research notice and draft minimum specifications could be made more competitive.
- State whether the proposed equipment is manufactured in the United States and, if not, state the name of the country where the equipment is manufactured.
- Identify any plans/possibilities for changes in manufacturing location of the aforementioned equipment and provide relevant details, including timeline.
- For the NAICS code listed in this notice:
- Indicate whether your company is (a) a small business or (b) other than small business. See the Table of Small Business Size Standards and the associated .pdf download file for small business size standards and additional information.
- If you believe the NAICS code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of product addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS code that you believe would be more appropriate for the planned procurement.
- Describe services that are available with the purchase of the aforementioned equipment from your company such as installation, training, and equipment maintenance.
- Describe standard terms and conditions of sale offered by your company for the recommended equipment such as: delivery time after your company accepts the order; FOB shipping terms; manufacturer warranty (including details regarding nature and duration); if available, description(s) of available extended warranty; equipment setup and test; operator and service instruction manual(s); cleanup after installation; and if applicable, other offered services. Provide a copy of manufacturer standard terms and conditions that typically relate to the sale of the specified equipment, if available.
- State whether your company offers facility renovation services related to installation of the recommended equipment at its delivery destination, if required per the NIST-identified minimum specifications, and provide description of said services. Indicate if your company performs the facility renovation services or typically subcontracts the work to another company. Indicate if your company would be interested in inspecting the intended installation site during the market research phase.
- State published price, discount, or rebate arrangements for recommended equipment and/or provide link to access company’s published prices for equipment and services.
- If the recommended equipment and related services are available for purchase on any existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts against which NIST may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.
- Identify any customers in the public or private sectors to which you provided the recommended or similar equipment. Include customer(s) information: company name, phone number, point of contact, email address.
- Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for NIST to know as part of its market research for this requirement.
- State if you require NIST to provide additional information to improve your understanding of the government’s requirement and/or would like to meet with NIST representatives to discuss the requirement and the capabilities of the identified equipment.
QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE
Questions regarding this notice may be submitted via email to the Primary Point of Contact and the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice. Questions should be submitted so that they are received 5 days prior to the response date. If the Contracting Officer determines that providing a written amendment to this notice to document question(s) received would benefit other potential respondents, the questions would be anonymized, and a written response to such question(s) would be provided via an amendment to this notice.
IMPORTANT NOTES
This notice is for market research purposes and should not be construed as a commitment by NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. There is no solicitation available at this time.
This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.
NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate.
Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability.
Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.
After a review of the responses received, a synopsis and solicitation may be published on GSA’s eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered an adequate response to any such solicitation(s).
The responses shall not exceed ten (10) pages including all attachments, charts, etc.
Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request.
