NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE: Refurbished Plasma-Therm 790 System

DESCRIPTION: The United States Department of Commerce (DOC), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Acquisition Management Division (AMD) intends to negotiate, on a sole source basis, with Plasma-Therm, LLC; 10050 16th Street N, Saitn Petersburg FL, 22716-4219 for the purchase of a Refurbished PlasmaTherm 790 Reactive Ion Etch (RIE) System to be utilized by NIST's Physical Measurements Laboratory (PML). The statutory authority for this acquisition is FAR 13.106-1(b). ***** Sole source determination is based on the need to acquire a RIE system that is the equivalence as two of NIST's existing Plasma-Therm 790 systems. The equivalence is needed to ensure the physical hardware itself, the Cortex control software, and most importantly the process expertise needed to match the new system with the two existing systems. This is essential as it will allows users to transfer recipes between the three Plasma-Therm 790 RIE systems while providing similar process results which is critical to the productivity of the researchers. This system is needed to increase capacity of the PML Lab as current limited capacity has slowed researchers' ability to conduct timely experiments. Only the Plasma Therm provided refurbished 790 system will meet needs, as utilizing old versions on the market would not provide the needed version of the Cortex control software or process support expertise to setup the new system and match it to the two existing 790 RIE systems. Plasma-Therm LLC. is the sole manufacturer and distributor of the equipment identified that meets the required minimum specifications. *****The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 333424 - Semiconductor Machinery Manufacturing, with a small business size standard of 1,500 employees. *****A determination by the Government not to compete the proposed acquisition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. *****No solicitation package will be issued. This notice of intent is not a request for quotations; however, all responsible sources interested may identify their interest and capability to respond to this requirement. Interested parties that believe they can satisfy the requirements listed above must identify their capability in writing before the response date of this notice. Only responses received by 1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on April 19, 2019 will be considered by the government. Responses shall be submitted via email to contact@example.gov or contact@example.gov Contracting Office Address: 100 Bureau Drive Bldg. 301, Mail Stop 1640 Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-0001