***THIS IS A SPECIAL NOTICE TO CONTRACTOR'S REGARDING A PRE-SOLICITATION CONFERERENCE TO BE HELD AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY (NIST) IN GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND. All Contractor's who may be interested in providing a quotation regarding a pending procurement for a Custom optical profiler system for the measurement of micro-cantilever beam deflections in a vacuum environment are encouraged to attend. If interested in providing an offer; however, are unable to attend the conference, the contract specialist should be notified via email at
contact@example.gov. *** The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 333314 with a small business size standard of 500 employees. This requirement is 100 percent set aside for small businesses. Only interested small businesses may submit a quote. In accordance with the Non-Manufacturer Rule, to qualify under a small business set-aside, the distributor and the manufacturer must qualify as a Small Business manufacturer under the NAICS code identified above. *** ***The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a requirement for one (1) each, Custom optical profiler system for the measurement of micro-cantilever beam deflections in a vacuum environment to be used in the Manufacturing Metrology Division at NIST, Gaithersburg, MD. *** Background: The NIST small force metrology laboratory is developing an instrument to measure the displacements of micro-mechanical and micro-electromechanical devices under point loading. For instance, static forces will be applied to the free end of cantilever specimens using the NIST electrostatic force balance while the full deflection curve of the deflected beams is monitored using interferometry. It is expected that the minimum required specifications in the pending solicitation will be as follows: Minimum Requirements Vendor shall supply an optical profiler system comprised of an interference microscope with computer control and image processing capabilities as follows: A. Long-working distance, incoherent light interference microscope 1) Vacuum compatible: 10-6 Torr; necessary vacuum cabling and feedthroughs are to be supplied by vendor. A small number of blank, unused conflat ports are available on the NIST vacuum system that may be modified for electrical feed through. 2) Microscope volume (LxWxH): 50 cm x 50 cm x 25 cm 3) Magnifications: 5X, 10X, and 20X 4) Working distance: at least 20 mm at 20X magnification 5) Field of view (LxW): at least 0.3 mm x 0.3 mm at 20X magnification 6) Focus resolution: plus or minus 5 nm or better 7) Operating modes: phase-shifting interferometry and vertical scanning interferometery 8) Adjustable optics: total optical path length, wavefront curvature, and dispersion of the reference arm must be adjustable to match the sample arm of the interferometer with the various objectives, as well as when an intervening window (up to 8 mm optical quality glass) is in the sample arm path 9) Camera: black and white CCD with remote video monitor 10) Light source: software controlled/autosetting, white light or quasi-monochromatic B. Microscope control hardware and image processing software 1) Control system compatible with NIST's existing National Instruments based data acquisition and control system. This system includes a Dell Computer running Windows XP and NI LabView version 7.1. The system has two PCI slots and one PCI express slot available. 2) I/O and video boards to operate the microscope in the specified modes. 3) PC Windows XP based image pattern matching software using subpixel interpolation 4) PC Windows XP based image analysis software C. Functional Requirements 1) Capture surface profile of a cantilever beam 300 um long, 50 um wide and 2 um thick that is deflected by 2 um at its free end. Must be able to output surface contour maps at 10 Hz update rate. 2) Output average deflection of a user specified sub-area at 100 Hz. Government Furnished Property 1) Vacuum compatible mounting fixture for microscope, hereafter referred to as the microscope mount. The microscope mount will be fabricated by the NIST shops after the Critical Design Review meeting. A drawing of the microscope mount will be released to the vendor within 10 days following the CDR. 2) Data acquisition computer (Dell Computer running Windows XP and NI LabView version 7.1, two PCI slots and one PCI express slot available) Optional Performance Vendor proposals may provide a price option for hardware and software to enable stroboscopic imaging capabilities for measurement of dynamic deflection shapes through a frequency range 100 Hz to 2 MHz. Special Provisions: Based on market research, NIST has determined that the required optical profiler system is not available as an off-the-shelf item. However, NIST has established that commercial non-contact optical profiler systems could meet the minimum technical requirements, provided hardware and electrical cables are modified as follows: 1) profiler components, electrical cables, and interconnects must be vacuum compatible to 10-6 Torr 2) profiler must fit in our vacuum chamber Pre-bid 1) There will be a one day, pre-solicitation conference at NIST's facility in Gaithersburg, MD to discuss specific design requirements and interfaces including a detailed examination of the vacuum chamber in which the profiler will be installed. This conference will occur before the submission of bids and will allow all potential vendors the opportunity to ask questions and resolve technical details necessary for the generation of a proposal. A SITE VISIT shall take place on Thursday, June 15, 2006 at 10:00AM Eastern Standard Time. Attendees shall convene at NIST, AML Building 219, Room B10, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland. Potential Offerors are strongly encouraged to attend site visit. SITE VISIT REQUIREMENTS: To better facilitate the site visit, it is requested that all technical questions be submitted in writing to Jennifer Roderick, Contract Specialist, via e-mail or fax no later than 3:00pm Eastern Standard Time on June 14, 2006. SECURITY REQUIREMENTS: Because of heightened security, Offerors who are planning to attend the site visit shall e-mail their intention to attend to Jennifer Roderick at
contact@example.gov, not later than 3:00pm on June 14, 2006, with the following information: 1) Company name 2) Names of all individuals attending the site visit 3) Country of Citizenship of all individuals attending the site visit* *For non-US Citizens, the following additional information will be required: 1) Title 2) Employer/Sponsor 3) Address Failure to register will result in individuals being denied access to NIST, and subsequently, the site visit. It is the sole responsibility of each Offeror to register for the site visit. Offerors must pick up a Visitor's Badge at the Visitor's Registration Center located at the Main Gate (Gate A, off Bureau Drive) Please ensure all individuals bring photo identification or they will be denied access to the facility.
