High Rate Silicon Deep Reactive Ion Etcher

(I) This 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; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. (II) This solicitation is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ). Submit written proposals on the referenced RFQ Number - RA1341-08-RQ-0178 (III) The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-26. (IV) This solicitation is a Total Small Business Set-Aside and the associated NAICS code is 333295. The small business size standard is 500 employees. (V) Contract Line items and system requirements are as follows: CLIN 0001 - The Contractor shall furnish 1 - High Rate Silicon Deep Reactive Ion Etcher. The System shall meet or exceed all of the minimum specifications identified herein. Option 1 - CLIN 0002 - Laser interferometric endpoint monitor - this method will be used for monitoring and stopping the etching process when the etch reaches a material of differing reflectivity such as a buried oxide film, backside metal, or backside dielectric film. The proposal shall describe the hardware and software to be included with this option as well as indicate the size of the monitored laser spot and describe the means for positioning the laser beam onto the wafer. The proposal shall indicate how the equipment is integrated into the system. Option 2 - CLIN 0003 - Complete parts set to switch to 6" wafer handling (including parts for load lock and electrostatic chuck). (VI) SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory Division - Quantum Electrical Metrology Division located in Boulder, Colorado, USA, requires an Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) etching system for research and development and for single wafer processing of 100 mm and 150 mm wafers. The system should be a current production model, not a prototype or one-of-a-kind system. There must be at least 5 working units of the proposed make and model operating currently in the field. Any substitutions of normally used major system components, such as software, power-supplies, load-lock mechanisms, vacuum valves, gauges and pumping equipment required to meet these specification shall be clearly noted in the specification. All equipment, excluding the rough vacuum pump, shall be Class 100 clean-room compatible, designed to sit entirely within the clean room. All clean-room equipment shall be housed entirely within a 1.5 meter by 2.2 meter (5 by 7 foot) footprint, including hook-ups to house facilities, such as gas line connections and vacuum lines, which will pass through the wall of the clean room. The system shall be wired for 208 VAC service. The system shall meet OSHA standards for operator safety and SEMI standards for environmental safety. The system shall be equipped with an easily accessible emergency shut-off switch which when activated safely turns off any ongoing process without causing damage to a sample in process during the shut-down procedure. 1.0. HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS 1.1. General (Line Item 0001 - High Rate Silicon Deep Reactive Ion Etcher) The system shall be inherently designed for very high rate (>25 - m/minute), high aspect-ratio anisotropic etching of silicon with sidewall protection and minimal sidewall angle. The system shall be capable of through-the-wafer etching of up to 500 micrometer (m) thick wafers, shall have a high degree of etching selectivity over silicon dioxide and photoresist. It must be capable of operating using the etching process commonly known as the Bosch process and the Contractor must be licensed to provide users with this process and any other patented process techniques required to achieve the process specifications. The system shall be equipped with a low frequency, pulsed-platen rf generator and recipe control for etching SOI wafers without footing. The system shall be engineered to reduce sidewall tilt across 100-150 mm wafer diameters while etching at high rates. Major components of the system shall be off-the-shelf, readily available parts, not custom-made. The system shall be delivered with high aspect etching processes that meet the specifications outlined below. The system offered shall have a demonstrated 95% up-time. Down time shall be calculated from the time the equipment fails to function properly to the time it is repaired and recovers normal functions. 1.2. Pumping / Gas Handling The system shall contain a high-throughput high vacuum pumping system as required to perform the necessary processes with high etch rates. All pumps shall be dry pumps (oil free). The vacuum shall be sufficient to maintain process stability and repeatability from wafer to wafer and run to run. The roughing pump(s) shall be sized appropriately to deliver the required pumping speed to maintain high vacuum and to evacuate vacuum chamber and load-lock. All pumps shall be rated for long up-time operation with the effluent expected in the proposed plasma etch processes. The system shall have appropriate vacuum gauges and displays for measuring both high (ion or cold-cathode gauge) and process (capacitance manometer) vacuum regions. Additional gauges for monitoring the load-lock and roughing lines shall also be provided. The gas manifold shall be constructed of all orbital-welded, stainless steel, with VCR fittings on all process gas lines. The system shall include mass flow controllers of sufficient quantity and flow rate to operate the proposed process and shall include at least 2 additional mass flow controllers plumbed into the gas manifold, equipped with VCR fittings and capped off, and controllable by the computer control system through the computer software for future recipe development. Additionally, the system shall provide a means to rapidly switch from one flow recipe to another as required by the Bosch process. The System shall provide active control of process gas pressure as well as flow. 1.3. Process Chamber and Load Lock The system shall be equipped with a manually loaded, automated wafer delivery loadlock. The load lock shall be capable of loading or unloading the wafer from/to the atmosphere load station to/from the process chuck in less than 5 minutes. The load lock shall be capable of handling both single-side and double-side polished wafers of varying thicknesses (50 - m to 5 mm). The operation of the load lock should not be affected by dielectric or metallic films deposited on either side of the wafer. The system shall be delivered equipped to handle one 100 mm (4 inch) wafer. Additionally the system (load-lock and process chamber) shall be capable of being adapted to accommodate 150 mm wafers (see section 4, Options, below). Changes of wafer size shall be able to be performed within a maximum 8 hours of installation time with the optional future purchase of the necessary components. Wafer cooling shall be provided by the process chamber chuck to maintain the proper temperature necessary to ensure optimization of etching parameters, etching repeatability, wafer uniformity, and process stability from wafer-to-wafer. The process chuck shall be capable of providing cooling in excess of that normally required to etch a single wafer in the event that partial wafers or chips are etched by being attached to backing wafers (which might cause additional thermal resistance). The wafer chuck shall use electrostatic clamping as a means of securing the wafer and containing the helium gas used for heat conduction to the cold bath. The electrostatic chuck dielectric and power supply shall be capable of providing uniform clamping force on silicon wafers (bare as well as oxidized) as well as wafers backed with tape or thick dielectric substrates (quartz or sapphire). The chuck temperature shall be controllable over the range of temperatures needed for the proposed process (-20 - C to +40 - C). The system shall provide an indication of improper chuck operation (for example, loss of He backside pressure or excess He flow). Proposals shall state the temperature profile achievable across the 100 and 150 mm wafer surface under high rate etch conditions. Plasma cleaning of the electrostatic chuck surface shall be possible to eliminate contamination that might interfere with wafer clamping. A chiller shall be provided as part of the system. The proposal shall describe the size of any regions that suffer from non-uniformity due to clamping. It shall be possible to electrostatically clamp and etch 3" wafers or wafer fragments by waxing (or other bonding techniques) to a 100 mm backing wafer. The backing wafer may be silicon, quartz, sapphire or other dielectrics. The system shall be designed for easy internal cleaning. It is well known that exposing certain materials to the plasma in the Bosch process can have unpredictable results, often requiring mechanical cleaning of interior process chamber components in order to return the system to its original working condition. It is very important that the system can be completely cleaned in a short time in order to allow us to schedule our work efficiently. The proposal shall describe cleaning methods to be used and give an estimate of the time necessary to clean the system. The system shall be compatible with the optional or later addition of endpoint monitoring equipment (see section 1.5, optional equipment, below). This includes appropriate optical feedthrough for the laser interferometric endpoint system. The system shall contain RF/DC process power supplies as required to deliver the appropriate plasma processing environment. 1.4. Control Systems Interlocks and/or system feedback circuits and sensors shall be provided to ensure proper and safe shut-down of the system and halting of any ongoing process in the event of failures including but not limited to: cooling water loss, high/low pressure, abnormal gas flow rates (e.g. loss of any process gas flow), and high reflected RF power. The equipment shall be inherently designed for safe recovery from a power outage during operations or while in the stand-by mode. It is required that the PC provides active logging of all processes run in the system. The system shall be equipped with a PC interface and Windows-based computer controlled software. Software shall be designed with clear, intuitive block diagrams of major system schematics. The system shall have the ability to enter and run new process recipes. Process recipe control shall include dynamic control of all aspects of the process including parameter switching and parameter ramping. Process logging shall include all relevant parameters. The PC shall be equipped with a means of backing up and restoring process recipes and system software. The system shall meet OSHA standards for operator safety and SEMI standards for environmental safety. The system shall be equipped with an easily accessible emergency, red in color, mushroom button shut-off switch which when activated safely turns off any ongoing process and places all process gas valves to their normally-off positions without causing damage to a sample in process during the shut-down procedure. 2.0. PROCESS AND PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS The Proposal shall include description of processes capable of obtaining the following specifications as well as data demonstrating the following performance abilities. The proposal shall include chamber/electrode design and software control features that help describe how the specifications will be met. 2.1. Large-area detector array etched through wafer and stopping at oxide/nitride membrane. The system shall be capable of etching a 16 x 16 array of 2.6 mm x 2.6 mm square holes separated by 200 - m thick walls in Si with sidewalls controllable within 90-93 (where 93 represents an undercut or negative profile). Uniformity of sidewall angle (tilt) across 100 mm and 150 mm wafer diameters should as small as possible and shall be stated in the proposal. Etch rate for this amount of exposed silicon (22%, but concentrated in the center 75 mm of the 100 mm wafer) shall be >9 - m/min. Uniformity of the etched silicon profile (i.e., endpoint) across the wafer shall be <= 4%. Selectivity to an oxide etch stop layer shall be >100:1 (silicon etch rate to oxide etch rate) and selectivity to photoresist shall be > 75:1. Sidewall roughness shall be <5 - m. 2.2. Sparse array of 1-3 mm diameter holes, 500 - m thick Si. These holes could be cut with a 100 - m wide trench to define the hole to reduce total volume of etched silicon. The system shall be capable of etching a sparse array (10% of the wafer surface exposed) of round through-holes in Si with sidewalls controllable to <94. Uniformity of sidewall angle (tilt) across 100 mm and 150 mm wafer diameters should as small as possible and shall be stated in the proposal. The selectivity for Si:SiO2 shall be at least 100:1, and the selectivity for Si:photoresist shall be at least 75:1. Etch rate shall be >20 - m/minute. The system shall obtain an etch uniformity of < 3% of the mean etch rate across a 100 mm wafer. Sidewall roughness shall be <1 - m. 2.3. SOI Capability The system shall be equipped with a low frequency, pulsed platen rf generator for etching SOI wafers without footing, i.e., capable of stopping on a buried silicon dioxide film with minimal undercutting of the silicon at the Si:SiO2 interface. 2.4. Basic deep/fast process for 15% etched area on 6" wafer. The system shall be capable of etching 300 - m deep, 80 - m wide trenches with sidewall angle controllable to 91 - 1 with selectivity of at least 100:1 for Si:photoresist. Etch rate shall be >18 - m/min with uniformity < - 5%. 2.5. Chamber, gas flow, RF power and all other process parameters shall be stable and capable of providing reproducible results from wafer to wafer, run to run, and process to process, without the necessity for lengthy conditioning procedures. (i.e., all of the above etch uniformity parameters shall be repeatable within the boundary values given above regardless of number of wafers processed, or previous chamber history.) 2.6. The system and inherent processes required to provide the functions above, shall utilize gases with fluorine-based chemistries only. Chlorine gases, combustible gases, or corrosive process gases are unacceptable. 3.0. INSTALLATION, DOCUMENTATION, TRAINING AND WARRANTY The Contractor shall schedule and facilitate installation/set-up. Installation, at a minimum, shall include uncrating, and unpacking of all equipment, set-up and hook-up of the instrument, and demonstration of all required specifications. Onsite installation and demonstration shall be done at NIST, Boulder, CO, within 45 calendar days of delivery to NIST. 3.1. The proposal shall provide a complete list of facility installation requirements including at least the following: - Process gases: flow rates, fitting sizes/type, location, including pneumatic valve pressure requirements. - House chilled water requirements: flow rate, temperature, minimum acceptable water resistivity, fitting sizes/type, location. - Electrical: currents, voltages [note, only 208 VAC, 3 phase service is available], breaker requirements. - Vacuum Exhaust: flow rates, fitting size/type, location. Pipe diameter required to achieve vacuum pressure and maintain pumping speed, and length of vacuum run calculated. Specify expected effluent gases and scrubbing requirement. - Installation drawings: system footprint, weight and drawings specifying the locations of all required facility connections. - Access: The dimensions of the clean room entrance are 1.17 meters wide by 2.1 meters high (46 inches by 82.5 inches). The system shall be able to be transported into the clean room through this entrance. 3.2. The system shall be provided with a complete set of system electrical, vacuum and plumbing schematics including control schematics, and a complete set of operations and maintenance manuals. All manuals shall be printed on clean room paper and bound in clean room binders. All manuals shall be provided in hard and soft copy format. Source code for software shall be provided. Manuals shall also be included for any major third-party hardware. 3.3. The system shall undergo pre-ship-acceptance testing at the manufacturer's facility, demonstrating process performance as outlined above (see section 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4). System cannot be shipped until NIST Contracting Officer Technical Representative (COTR) verifies the results of this testing. Contractor shall provide at a minimum 30-days advance notice in order to accommodate travel arrangements. 3.4. The system shall undergo pre-acceptance testing at NIST Boulder Labs, demonstrating process performance as outlined above in sections 2.1, 2.1, 2.3 and 2.4. - Demonstrate proper functioning of tool including wafer handling, electrostaic chuck operation, gas flow/control, rf power supply operation, and software. - Perform Test etches to verify that the supplied process recipes can achieve the etch parameters specified in 21-2.4, above. 3.5. The Contractor shall schedule and facilitate a 2-day training session for up to 3 users at NIST. The training shall provide a thorough demonstration of all equipment functions, maintenance, data administration, and basic troubleshooting. The training may be completed at NIST immediately after installation and demonstration of performance specifications, but no later than 30 days after installation. The Contractor shall provide a list of installation requirements, including house services and furniture, with explanations, within 15 days of contract award. NIST will provide any required connections to house services. 3.6. The Contractor shall provide a minimum of a 1 Year Warranty. Proposal must include unlimited telephone/e-mail support during the warranty period, for questions regarding operation. This warranty must cover non-consumable parts and travel/labor on-site should this become necessary within the warranty period 4.0. PAST PERFORMANCE 4.1. Contractor shall provide a history of products, services and experience in successfully providing comparable systems. Contractor shall include no fewer than 3 references, including address, phone number, and point-of-contact, from users who are currently operating the make and model of the proposed system in the field. Referenced models need not be of the current production year, but shall be production equipment manufactured within the past 24 months and designed for the same or similar purpose, and should be as functionally similar to the equipment being proposed. 4.2. Contractor holding any Government Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWAC) shall provide contract number and contracting agency. (VII) DELIVERY INFORMATION: Place of Delivery and Acceptance is: NIST Boulder Labs, Bldg 22, 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 80305-3328. (VIII) Delivery is requested 180 days or less after award of contract. (IX) Delivery shall be FOB Destination. FOB Destination means: The Contractor shall pack and mark the shipment in conformance with carrier requirements, deliver the shipment in good order and condition to the point of delivery specified in the contract, be responsible for any loss of and/or damage to the goods occurring before receipt and acceptance of the shipment by the consignee at the delivery point specified in the purchase order; and pay all charges to the specified point of delivery. (X) FAR 52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference (FEB 1998) This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracts Specialist will make full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at these addresses: http://www.acquisition.gov/far/index.html or http://www.arnet.gov/far/ (XI) FAR 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors -- Commercial Items (JUNE 2008), applies to this acquisition. In addition to written price proposals, Offers are instructed to provide literature and references as identified in the Evaluation Factors. (XII) FAR 52.212-2, Evaluation - Commercial Items (JAN 1999), applies to this acquisition. Award will be made to the Contractor whose proposal offers the best value to the Government, price and other factors considered. The Government will evaluate proposals based on the following evaluation criteria: Technical Capability, Past Performance, and Price. Technical Capability has a greater value than Past Performance. Technical Capability when combined with Past Performance have a greater value than Price. If all things considered under Technical Capabilities combined with Past Performance are equal, Price shall be the determining factor Past Performance and Price will not be evaluated on proposals that are deemed technically unacceptable. Technical Capability - the proposal shall address all the requirements/specifications outlined above and shall provide indication of understanding and ability to meet requirements. - System Requirements (Section VI) - Hardware Specifications (Section VI - Paragraph 1.0) - General (Section VI - Paragraph 1.1) - Pumping /Gas Handling (Section VI - Paragraph 1.2) - Process Chamber and load Lock (Section VI - Paragraph 1.3) - Control System (Section VI - Paragraph 1.4) - Process and Performance Specifications (Section VI - Paragraph 2.0) - Large Area detection array (Section VI - Paragraph 2.1) - Sparse array (Section VI - Paragraph 2.2) - SOI Capability (Section VI - Paragraph 2.3) - Basic deep/fast process (Section VI - Paragraph 2.4) - Process stability (Section VI - Paragraph 2.5) - Fluorine based chemistries (Section VI - Paragraph 2.6) - Installation, Training and Warranty (Section VI - Paragraph 3.0) - Past Experience (Section VI - Paragraph 4.0.) - Options (Section V - CLIN 0002 and CLIN 0003) Past Performance - Contractor shall include no fewer than 5 references, including address, phone number, and point-of-contact, from users who are currently operating the make and model of the proposed system in the field. Referenced models need not be of the current production year, but shall be production equipment manufactured within the past 24 months and designed for the same or similar purpose, and should be as functionally similar to the equipment being proposed. Past Performance on contracts with the Federal Government, other public agencies, or private organizations may be considered. The past performance information submitted may be that of the Offeror's firm or its proposed subcontractors. Subcontractor past performance will only be considered if the past performance correlates to the work the contractor will be performing on the contemplated contract. The Contractor should disclose any instances in which its Past Performance on a particular contract may be considered by others to be less than fully satisfactory by attaching a narrative. The Contractor should relate pertinent facts and circumstances and describe any remedial action taken or to be taken to correct the deficiency. Failure to disclose such instances may result in a determination that the Contractor has been less than candid with the Government, which could result in an unfavorable assessment of the Offeror's past performance record. The Government reserves the right to limit the number of references it ultimately contacts and to contact references or use sources other than those provided by the Contractor to obtain information related to past performance. Other sources include, but are not limited to, the Past Performance Information Retrieval System; Federal, State or local governmental agencies; and private sector businesses. Limited exchanges between the Government and a Contractor may occur to clarify the relevance of a Contractor's past performance information and adverse past performance information to which the Contractor has not previously had an opportunity to respond. Price - shall reflect the total price. Contractor should ensure that their proposal constitutes their best offer in terms of both price and the technical solution being proposed. (XIII) The Contractor must submit a completed copy of the provision at FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications - Commercial Items (JUNE 2008), with its proposal. Contractors must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration database (CCR): http://www.ccr.gov/ and to have completed the Online Representation and Certifications (ORCA) located at https://orca.bpn.gov/ (XIV) The clause at FAR 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items (FEB 2007), applies to this acquisition. (XV) The clause at FAR 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders - Commercial Items (JUNE 2008) applies to this acquisition. The following clauses under subparagraph (b) apply: FAR 52.203-6 Restriction on Subcontractor Sales to the Government, with Alternate I (SEPT 2006) FAR 52.217-5 Evaluation of Options (JULY 1990) FAR 52.219-6 Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside (JUNE 2003) FAR 52.219-8 Utilization of Small Business Concerns (MAY 2004) FAR 52.222-3 Convict Labor (JUNE 2003) FAR 52.222-19 Child Labor - Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies (FEB 2008) FAR 52.222-21 Prohibition of Segregated Facilities (FEB 1999) FAR 52-222-26 Equal Opportunity (MAY 2007) FAR 52.222-35 Equal Opportunity for Special Disabled Veterans, Veterans of the Vietnam Era, and Other Eligible Veterans (SEPT 2006) FAR 52.222-36 Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities (JUNE 1998) FAR 52.222-37 Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans, Veterans of the Vietnam Era, and Other Eligible Veterans (SEPT 2006) FAR 52.222-39 Notification of Employee Rights Concerning Payment of Union Dues or Fees (DEC 2004) FAR 52.222-50 Combating Trafficking in Persons (AUG 2007) FAR 52.225-5 Trade Agreements (NOV 2007) FAR 52.225-13 Restriction on Certain Foreign Purchases (JUNE 2008) FAR 52.232-29 Terms for Financing of Purchases of Commercial Items (FEB 2002) FAR 52.232-30 Installment Payments for Commercial Items (OCT 1995) FAR 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-Central Contractor Registration (OCT 2003) (XVI) Additional Contract Requirements or Terms and Conditions: FAR 52.217-5 Evaluation of Options (July 1990) FAR 52.217-7 Option for Increased Quantity-Separately Priced Line Item (Mar 1989) Fill in: within 60 days from the time of installation; FAR 52.233-4 Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim (Oct 2004) The following Clause applies only to option items, CLIN 0002 and 0003. FAR 52.232-18 Availability of Funds. (Apr 1984) (XVII) The Government intends to award a firm fixed-price contract resulting from this solicitation. (XVIII) Proposals are required to be received in the contracting office no later than 01:00 P.M. MDT on Tuesday, September 2, 2008. All proposals (less than 25 pages) may be faxed or emailed to the attention of Pamela Ballard. The fax number is (303) 497-3163 and email address is Pamela.Ballard@noaa.gov. If proposal and documentation exceeds 25 pages please mail or send by private carrier to: Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Mountain Region Acquisition Division, Attn: Pamela Ballard MC3, 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 80305-3328. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is an authorized procurement agent for NIST. The Government shall not be held responsible for any equipment malfunction or internet delays that result in incomplete or late receipt of submittals. Contractors responding to this solicitation are encouraged to inform the points-of-contact below so that receipt of submittals by the closing date and time can be confirmed. (XIX) Any questions regarding this solicitation should be directed to Pamela Ballard, (303) 497-3487, Pamela.Ballard@noaa.gov no later than Wednesday, August 27, 2008.