CHIPS Permittivity coupons and on-wafer calibration standards – Combined Sources Sought/Notice of Intent to Sole Source

***THIS IS A COMBINED SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE AND NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE***

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a high speed, Lock-in/Servo system. If no alternate sources are identified, the Government intends to issue a Sole Source Award to Mosaic Microsystems LLC, 500 Lee Rd, Suite 200, Rochester, NY 14606 (UEI: JPLDLBVEEUP2) under the authority of FAR 12.102(a). The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334413,

NIST has a need for a permittivity coupons and on-wafer calibration standards that meets or exceeds the following draft minimum specifications:

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) propose a contract to purchase wafers and fabrication services with an option year for high purity fused silica coupons and wafer fabrication. These wafers and fabrication services build a collection of standard reference materials (SRMs). The SRMs support on-wafer power, phase, S-parameters, and complex permittivity.

The goal of this requirement is to enable traceable complex measurement and on-wafer traceability for S-parameters power and phase for NIST. The contractor shall deliver the twenty (20) Wafers for NIST wafer-level calibration kits; thirty (30) 150 um Standard reference material permittivity coupons; ten (10) 160 um Standard reference material permittivity coupons; ten (10) 140 um Standard reference material permittivity coupons; five (5) Exploratory standard reference material microstrip calibration kits. Optional line items include five (5) Exploratory standard reference material coplanar waveguide calibration kits; twenty (20) Additional Wafers for NIST wafer-level calibration kits; thirty (30) Additional 150 um Standard reference material permittivity coupons.
 

Description: Wafers for NIST wafer-level calibration kits

Quantity: 20-55

1. Technical Specifications
   
   1. High purity fused silica
   2. 150 mm (6 inch)
   3. Less than TTV 0.05 mm over 200 mm
   4. 150 um thick
   5. Handles wafers
   6. Viaffirm
   7. Laser cutting and healing etch of center coupon after NIST fabrication
   8. Stealth dicing after NIST fabrication
   9. Glass wafer debond after NIST fabrication
   10. Singulation into individual die
   11. Storage into a die holder
   12. Shipping back to NIST after singulation

Description: 150 um Standard reference material permittivity coupons

Quantity: 30-70

1. Technical Specifications
   
   1. High purity fused silica
   2. 200 mm (8 inch)
   3. Less than TTV 0.05 mm over 200 mm
   4. 150 um
   5. laser cutting and healing etch

Description: 160 um Standard reference material permittivity coupons

Quantity: 5

1. Technical Specifications
   
   1. High purity fused silica
   2. 200 mm
   3. Less than TTV 0.05 mm over 200 mm
   4. 160 um
   5. laser cutting and healing etch

Description: 140 um Standard reference material permittivity coupons

Quantity: 5

1. Technical Specifications
   
   1. High purity fused silica
   2. 200 mm
   3. Less than TTV 0.05 mm over 200 mm
   4. 140 um
   5. laser cutting and healing etch

Description: Exploratory standard reference material microstrip calibration kits

Quantity: 5-10

1. Technical Specifications
   
   1. NIST will provide a gds layout file and topside metallizaiton
   2. Backside metallization 1 um Au
   3. 8 hours consulting
   4. 16 hours process development
   5. High purity fused silica
   6. 150 mm (6 inch)
   7. Less than TTV 0.01 mm over 200 mm
   8. 150 mm handle wafers
   9. 150 mm viaffirm process
   10. 150 mm alignment
   11. 4 Stepper mask
   12. 1 Contact mask
   13. 1 MLA mask for unique labels on each die
   14. 1 HF etch cost per hour (requires Etch Mask)
   15. 1 stealth dicing
   16. 1 glass wafer debond

NIST conducted market research from November 2025 to April 2026 by attending conferences, speaking with colleagues, performing internet searches, and speaking with vendors to determine what sources could meet NIST’s minimum requirements.  The results of that market research revealed that only Mosaic Microsystems LLC, 500 Lee Rd, Suite 200, Rochester, NY 14606 (UEI: JPLDLBVEEUP2) appears to be capable of meeting NIST’s requirements.

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 at the bottom of this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice.

• 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).
• Details about what your company is capable of providing that meets or exceeds NIST’s minimum requirements.
• Whether your company is an authorized reseller of the product or service being cited and evidence of such authorization.
• Identify any aspects of the description of the requirements in the BACKGROUND section above that could be viewed as unduly restrictive or create unnecessary barriers that adversely affect your firm’s ability to fully participate in a procurement for such services and explain why.  Please offer suggestions for how the requirements could be organized or structured to encourage the participation of small businesses.
• For the NAICS code
• 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. 
• If your firm has existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts for products or services against which the Department may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.
• Describe your firm’s experience (as a prime, subcontractor, or consultant) providing the products or services described in Background section.
• Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for the Government to know as part of its market research for this requirement.
• Please let us know if you would like to engage to get a better understanding of the requirement or need additional information about the Government’s requirement for the products or services described in the Background section. 

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 with 5 days of this posting.  Questions will be anonymized and answered via sources sought notice amendment following the question submission deadline.

IMPORTANT NOTES

The information received in response to this notice will be reviewed and considered so that the NIST may appropriately solicit for its requirements in the near future. 

This notice should not be construed as a commitment by the NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. 

This notice is not a request for a quotation. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotations.

No award will be made as a result of this notice. 

NIST is not responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice.

NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and appropriate.

Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request!