Magnetic Thin Films

The Department of Natural Resources Canada is seeking specialized technical services to support research and development in permanent magnetic thin-film materials and Materials Acceleration Platforms, with the goal of accelerating discovery, optimization, and validation of advanced magnetic materials through high-quality experimental data and machine learning-driven workflows. The work involves fabricating sputtered thin films—including multilayers, graded compositions, and protective coatings—alongside in-house post-deposition thermal processing under vacuum or inert gas, and comprehensive structural and magnetic characterization using XRD, SEM, thickness analysis, and measurements of coercivity, remanence, magnetization, anisotropy, and energy product. All services must be delivered from facilities located within 75 kilometers of NRCan’s Mississauga laboratories to enable rapid sample transfer and iterative development cycles. The contractor must have a minimum of 10 years of experience in sputtered thin-film fabrication and proven capability to generate structured, machine-readable datasets compatible with computational modeling and active learning platforms. The contract, valued at $60,000 CAD plus applicable GST/HST, has a fixed performance period ending September 30, 2027. The solicitation, identified as NRCan-5000096539 and posted on August 6, 2026, with a submission deadline of August 21, 2026, is structured as a sole-source award under subsection 6(d) of the Government Contracts Regulations, with the University of Toronto pre-identified as the only supplier capable of meeting all mandatory technical requirements. There are no line-item cost breakdowns, option periods, or pricing schedules provided; evaluation is based solely on pass/fail compliance with 10 non-negotiable technical criteria, with no weighted scoring or trade-off analysis. All foreground intellectual property generated under the contract is owned by the Government of Canada, and there are no security clearance, key personnel, or organizational conflict of interest provisions. Proposals must be submitted in writing to the Contracting Authority, Anik Samson, via email or physical mail, with no page limits or format restrictions specified, and no use of U.S. Federal Acquisition Regulation clauses applies, as this procurement follows Canadian government procedures.