Notice of Intent to Sole Source Wirebond Pull Tester

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Acquisition Management Division intends to negotiate with K&R Next Generation Bonding Inc., located in Santa Ana, CA, on a sole source basis under the authority of FAR Subpart 6.302-1, soliciting from a single source, for a Wirebond Pull Tester.

Specific Requirements are as follows:

1. The unit shall be a new West Bond 70PTE Wire Pull Tester, “E” Series, with A-1 Tweezer Feature, with the following specifications:
   1. binocular microscope with 10x eyepieces.
   2. LED Illuminator:  Twin Array.
   3. z Tool Range:  at least 9/16”.
   4. z Encoder Resolution:  0.002”.
   5. Test Force Range:  100 g minimum.
   6. Test Range:  at least 1/8” depth with 360⁰ rotation.
   7. Force Resolution:  0.1 g or better.
   8. Force Accuracy:  +/– 0.2 g or better.
   9. ESD Protection:  yes.
   10. (x, y, z) micromanipulator of pull hook and swap-in tweezer attachment:  single-lever, dual-counter counterbalanced with 8:1 motion-reduction ratio.  
   11. The contractor shall supply a one-year warranty on all parts.

NAICS Code is 334515 –Instrument Manufacturing for Measuring and Testing Electricity and Electrical Signals, with a Size Standard of 750 employees. NIST anticipates negotiating and awarding a firm-fixed-price purchase order to K&R Next Generation Bonding for this requirement.

Interested parties that can demonstrate they could satisfy the requirement listed above for NIST must clearly and unambiguously identify their capability to do so in writing on or before the response date for this notice. This notice of intent is not a solicitation. Information submitted in response to this notice will be used solely to determine whether competitive procedures could be used for this acquisition. If competitive procedures are not used it is estimated that an award will be issued by August 28, 2026. Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to lisa.stevens@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted to lisa.stevens@nist.gov no later than the date and time provided herein this posting.

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AN OPEN COMPETITION:

The NIST Quantum Sensors Division (QSD) is contracted by NASA to provide flight hardware for the Athena X-ray-astronomy satellite mission.  As part of this work, the QSD team will be wirebonding to flight parts.  The team needs to be able to measure the pull strength of the wirebonds.  The team also needs to be able to remove wirebonds in a highly controlled way.

This purchase is for a dual-use benchtop unit:  a manual wirebond-pull tester that also has a swap-in tweezer attachment to remove wirebonds.  The new unit will be sited in the QSD's new “flight lab” that is being commissioned to handle, test, and store Athena flight parts.

To support its general mission to assemble and test detector and readout hardware, the QSD already operates and maintains a fleet of wirebonders (to apply wirebonds) and diebonders with tweezers (to remove wirebonds) that were all made by the same manufacturer, West Bond.  Wirebond-pull testers share many operating features with wirebonders and diebonders and are built from many of the same types of mechanical, optical, and electronic components.  Thus, to maintain intercompatibility with its existing stock of spare West Bond parts and to avoid the need to re-train its large user base that already knows how to operate, trouble-shoot, and repair West Bond wirebonders and diebonders, the QSD is requesting to purchase a specific West Bond model (the 70PTE Wire Pull Tester, “E” Series, with A-1 Tweezer Feature) from a specific company (K&R Next Generation Bonding, Inc.).

The QSD presently operates and maintains 6 West Bond wirebonders and diebonders.  All of these units use the same optic (binocular microscope with 10x eyepieces) that are also present in the new wirebond-pull tester.  All but one use the same (x, y, z) single-lever, dual-counterbalanced micromanipulator with 8:1 motion-reduction ratio that is also present in the new wirebond-pull tester.  All but one use the same mechanical stage and the same control electronics that are also present in the new wirebond-pull tester.  Two use the same tweezers and actuator that are also present in the new wirebond-pull tester.  The QSD keeps an inventory of spare parts and has super-users for each machine that have been trained by West Bond technicians to repair them.  A sole-source purchase of the specified West Bond 70PTE-A-1 wirebond-pull tester with tweezers guarantees intercompatibility with QSD’s spare parts and the ability of QSD’s already-trained super-users to service and repair the new machine.

The present QSD user base for the existing West Bond machines is about 35 people.  The user base for the new wirebond-pull tester is expected to be about 6 to 8 people, all of whom are present users of QSD’s other West Bond machines.  A sole-source purchase of the specified West Bond 70PTE-A-1 guarantees interoperability by the existing QSD user base without the need for re-training.

West Bond, Inc. went out of business at the end of 2025.  The remaining stock of new West Bond wirebonders, diebonders, and wire-pull testers was transferred to a new company, K&R Next Generation Bonding, Inc.  This company is the only authorized seller of new (manufacturer original) West Bond machines.  Thus, QSD is requesting to purchase the 70PTE-A-1 (the only wire-pull tester with tweezer attachment that fulfills QSD’s technical needs) from K&R Next Generation Bonding, Inc. (the only company authorized to sell it).