Description
The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has the requirement to acquire design and engineering services in support of developing the Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC; termed the Versatile Readout based on Integrated Trapezoidal Analog Shapers (VERITAS)) as a NASA contribution to the European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft titled the Advanced Telescope for High-ENergy Astrophysics (ATHENA). The VERITAS is a critical component of the Wide Field Imager (WFI), an instrument under development by the principal investigator Prof. Kirpal Nandra, at the Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Garching, Germany. GSFC intends to accomplish a sole source contract with Stanford University pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics (ATHENA) spacecraft is intended to combine a large X-ray telescope with state-of-the-art scientific instruments to address key questions in astrophysics. ATHENA was selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) as the second large mission of the “Cosmic Vision Program” during March of 2013. NASA is an international partner in this effort and has teamed with ESA, its international partners and other support contractors. The ATHENA spacecraft consists of several critical components, one of which is the Science Instrument Module (SIM). The SIM comprises two science instruments (WFI and X-IFU), the Science Instrument Bench (SIB), and supporting hardware. As a part of its contribution to the ATHENA mission, NASA will support the design and development of the VERITAS for use on the WFI. The WFI is to be a silicon depleted p-channel field effect transistor (DEPFET) active pixel sensor camera. It will have a large field of view, high count-rate capability and moderate resolution spectroscopic capability. MPE, and further ESA and NASA, requires technical support in developing the VERITAS, which is to be a highly specialized multi-channel readout ASIC for DEPFET arrays. The main chip application is the readout of the DEPFET pixel arrays of the WFI for the spacecraft. MPE is responsible to physically manufacture, produce, and test the VERITAS. One of the key research scientists at MPE involved in the preliminary design efforts of the WFI has since left the institute and is now at Stanford University’s Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology. The development of instrumentation for X-ray astronomical applications is a specialized, highly technical field, with limited participants worldwide. Stanford will be responsible for performing the circuit design, analysis, and simulations, to verify the VERITAS operation and analytical optimization. This will then allow MPE to manufacture a WFI instrument that meets the mission requirements and ultimately increases the likelihood of ATHENA’s success. GSFC intends to issue a sole source Request for Proposal to Stanford University, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, for developing and delivering a usable VERITAS design. Stanford University is uniquely capable to accomplish such, as it has highly specialized staff and unique experience working on the ATHENA program. Stanford will be responsible for performing the circuit design, analysis, and simulations, to verify the VERITAS operation and analytical optimization. This will then allow MPE to manufacture a WFI instrument that meets the mission requirements and ultimately increases the likelihood of ATHENA’s success. The Stanford team brings broad experience in X-ray instrumentation and space hardware and, critically to the ATHENA program, a unique capability in the design of readout ASICs for DEPFET detectors. The Stanford team is the only team, worldwide, to have developed an ASIC capable of the spectroscopic readout of DEPFET devices. This capability does not currently exist in any other lab or company. Stanford has been working with ESA on the ATHENA WFI project since 2016. Stanford designed the VERITAS 2.2 ASIC that is being used successfully with the current generation of ATHENA WFI prototype detectors. The university has also been working on the next iterations of the VERITAS ASIC, VERITAS 2.2 XFAB and VERITAS 2.3, which will be essential to the continued WFI development. The ATHENA WFI prototype detectors and VERITAS ASICs are all unique, first-of-their-kind devices. The design files and simulation infrastructure necessary for the design work are in place at Stanford. The work there is enabled by the team's access to Stanford's advanced electronic design automation (EDA) environment and extensive software libraries. With its unparalleled expertise and demonstrated capabilities with the design of the VERITAS 2.2 prototype, and preliminary work on designs for later iterations, the Stanford team is uniquely qualified for this role. It is anticipated that a Cost No Fee contract will be placed with a five year period of performance beginning October 1, 2020. Organizations who believe they can provide these services without any detrimental impact to the program schedules supported by this work should fully identify their interest and capabilities within 15 days after publication of this synopsis. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency. The submission should be in writing and to the Contracting Officer listed as the primary POC, received by 5 PM Eastern 15 days following the issuance of this synopsis. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. Written capabilities / qualifications received within the timeframe will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed effort on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Government does not intend to acquire a commercial item using FAR Part 12.