REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) – PROBE STATION

N00164-17-S-NB47 - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) - PROBE STATION - FSC 6640 - NAICS 333242 Issue Date: 08 FEBRUARY 2017 - Closing Date: 08 MARCH 2017 - 2:00 PM EDT I. Request for Information: The Government is issuing this RFI as part of a market survey in accordance with FAR 15.201(e) to determine the availability of sources to provide a probe station at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane, IN. This RFI is published to obtain information for use by NSWC Crane Division, for market research and planning purposes only; and is not a Request for Proposal, Invitation for Bid, or an announcement of a solicitation. There is no bid package or solicitation document associated with this announcement. This RFI is part of a continuous process for obtaining the latest information on the commercial status of the industry with respect to current and near-term abilities. Response to this RFI is strictly voluntary and will not affect any potential offeror's ability to submit an offer if a solicitation is released. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of preparing submissions in response to this RFI and the Government's use of such information. The scope of this effort is as follows: The purpose of this requirement is to obtain a probe station. The system shall consist the following: 2.1.1 Prober Base Assembly 2.1.1.1 The prober base assembly consists of a base frame (platen), wafer stage (chuck), and microscope bridge. 2.1.1.2 The base frame shall have a large movable platen compatible for mounting magnetic or vacuum base manipulators. The platen shall have a four point mount and linear vertical movement with a coarse adjustment range of ≥ 20mm. The platen lift should have some means ensuring that the probe tips do not strike the microscope objectives when the platen is raised. The station shall have a vacuum manifold and sufficient surface area to vacuum mount six of the manufacturers' remote control manipulators. 2.1.1.3 The wafer stage shall have high isolation triaxial wafer chuck (≥200mm diameter). The wafer chuck should have manual X-Y-Z and Theta movement control, even with a motorized stage. The total X-Y movement shall be ≥200mm with resolution ≤1 μm. The wafer stage shall be constructed of a nonmagnetic metal and have a polished surface. The stage shall use vacuum pressure to hold down wafers. The vacuum system shall be designed to enable wafer samples as small as 25mm to be held down without loss in vacuum. 2.1.1.4 The wafer stage shall have all necessary plumbing, thermal sealing, RFI/EMI shielding, and electrical connections installed to allow -60 to 300 degree C probing without any modifications to the probe station or wafer chuck. All electrical and plumbing connections shall be made in a way that they do not interfere with the wafer chuck movement or affect the stated positioning accuracy of the wafer stage. 2.1.1.5 The entire prober assembly shall have a light tight cabinet style enclosure for eliminating all ambient light while probing a device. The enclosure shall not interfere with any of the normal remote probing operations or capabilities of the system. 2.1.2 Optical Subsystem 2.1.2.1 The optical subsystem shall consist of an optical microscope with motorized microscope movement (X, Y, Z), motorized focus, and motorized magnification (zoom and/or lens turret). 2.1.2.2 The optical subsystem shall include widefield eyepieces with ≥ 10 x magnifications and shall include a color TV camera to enable High Definition (HD) remote imaging with the same overall optical magnification as that obtained through the eyepieces. 2.1.2.3 The microscope shall capable of ≥ 50mm of travel in the X/Y direction. 2.1.2.4 The microscope shall be a QIOPTIQ 40x A-ZOOM2 prober microscope or equivalent. (Equivalency must be demonstrated by the supplier to NSWC Crane GXMS personnel prior to acceptance. Equivalency Criterion: Digital photographs of 0.5μm lines and spaces, captured through the camera port of microscope system, must be resolvable. A Critical Dimension Magnification Standard or equivalent must be used to certify the dimensions of the imaged lines and spaces.) 2.1.2.5 The microscope shall have a beam splitting trinocular head and coaxial fiber optic illumination. The microscope and objectives shall be compatible with 1064, 532, and 355 nm wavelength laser cutting systems. 2.1.2.6 The microscope objectives shall be Mtiutoyo M Plan APO long working distance objectives lenses or equivalent. The objectives lenses shall be suitable for both bright field observation and laser applications. (NIR→550nm or 550nm→UV) No objective shall have a working distance of less than 10mm. 2.1.2.7 Five interchangeable objective lenses shall be included with the microscope, 10X Standard, 50X, 100X UV compatible and 50X, 100X NIR compliable objectives. The numerical aperture (NA) of the 50X and 100X objective lenses shall be sufficient to produce a calculated resolving power (R) ≥ 0.8μm for 𝝀=550nm. 2.1.3 Laser Cutting System 2.1.3.1 The microscope shall have an integrated TriLite (355, 532, 1064 nm) QuickLaze50 laser cutting system or equivalent. 2.1.3.2 The Laser Cutting System shall have safety interlocks integrated into the enclosure and other safety override/cut-off features to enable the internal Class 3b system to treated as a Class1 external safety hazard. 2.1.3.3 The Laser Cutting System shall provide an X-Y aperture control of the laser exposure window which is capable of creating a range of cut size windows from ≤ 3μm x 3μm (100x Objective) to ≥40μm x 40μm (50x Objective) 2.1.3.4 The Laser Cutting System shall provide operator control over the firing rate of the selected laser. The firing rate shall be adjustable enabling a single fire event (Single Shot Mode) and a periodic sequence of firing events (Burst Mode). 2.1.3.5 The selected Laser Wavelength (𝝀) shall be capable of supplying the Energy (E) measured at the output of a 3mm x 3mm aperture IR 𝝀 = 1064nm E ≥ 0.5 mJ GRN 𝝀 = 532nm E ≥ 0.5 mJ UV 𝝀 = 355nm E ≥ 0.4 mJ 2.1.4 Manipulators 2.1.4.1 Four software controlled motorized manipulators shall be provided with the system. Each manipulator shall be capable of independent linear movement in the X, Y, and Z directions using software controlled DC drive motors. The X, Y, and Z movement shall each be ≥10 mm, with a step size ≤ 1μm and backlash free. 2.1.4.2 Each manipulator shall be equipped with an on-axis triaxial probe holder capable of accepting any standard fine tip 45 degree tungsten needle probe tip. 2.1.5 Shielded Enclosure 2.1.5.1 The prober assembly shall have a light tight enclosure for eliminating all ambient light while probing. The enclosure will not interfere with any of the normal manual or remote probing operations. 2.1.5.2 The enclosure shall be integrated with the operation of the Laser Cutting System, providing the necessary access prevention and other safety features to enable the system to be treated as a Class I Laser 2.1.6 Vibration Isolation Subsystem 2.1.6.1 The subsystem shall consist of a vibration isolated platform; large enough to accommodate the size and weight of the probe station and all associated hardware. The Vibration Isolation Subsystem meet the following requirements: Horizontal/Vertical Natural Resonance Frequency ≤ 1Hz Horizontal/Vertical Isolation Efficiency @ 2Hz ≥ 90% Horizontal/Vertical Isolation Efficiency @ 10Hz ≥ 95% 2.1.6.2 The platform shall be constructed with tamper proof travel restraints so that heavy objects may be removed while in operation without danger of over-travel. These restraints shall be integrated so that neither the restraints nor the platform represent a pinch hazard. 2.1.6.3 The platform shall include a lab chair/stool, which includes pneumatic height adjustment, adjustable foot ring and seatback angle, and durable non-cloth upholstery. 2.1.7 System Computer and Software 2.1.7.1 The computer operating system shall be Window 10. The software shall enable operator control over the probe station features through a Mouse-actuated Icon-based Graphical User Interface (GUI), in addition to any command-line or script-based programming interface. The system shall include detailed and searchable on-line help files which instruct the operator on how to view and/or change the GUI parameters and the resultant effect. 2.1.7.2 The software shall enable the operator to control the X-Y-Z position and speed of the microscope and each probe, individually. In addition, the software shall enable the operator to adjust the optical focus and magnification. 2.1.7.3 The computer shall include a high resolution video graphics card, with frame-grabber hardware/software capability, and a 24" or greater color flat panel display. The system shall be capable of capturing and storing digital images from the HD color imaging camera in the optical microscope. 2.1.8 Thermal Chuck Subsystem 2.1.8.1 The Thermal Chuck Subsystem must allow frost free probing from -60 degrees C to +300 degrees C for wafers or packaged integrated circuit (IC) devices. 2.1.8.2 If the Thermal Subsystem requires that the chuck to be located within an environmentally controlled enclosure in order to enable frost free probing, the system shall provide a means for unrestricted access when the Thermal Chuck is not in use. The enclosure shall contain a large access door in the front which can be removed (or remain open) or have the capability of being entirely removed from the probe assembly, without inhibiting probe station operation during non-thermal operation. 2.1.8.3 The Chuck shall meet the following geometric and electrical specifications: X-Y planarity ≤ 8 μm X-Y-Z Movement Resolution ≤ 0.5 μm Isolation to Ground ≥ 100GΩ Information may be submitted by any government or non-government entity including commercial firms, non-profit organizations, and any institutions of higher education with degree-granting programs in science and /or engineering (universities), or by consortia compromising such concerns. The Crane Division encourages participation by small business, small disadvantaged business, HUB zone small business, woman-owned small business, veteran-owned small business, and historically black colleges and universities. The Government may choose to visit, or host a visit from, any potential sources. This request for information/sources sought synopsis in no way implies either implicitly or explicitly that respondents will be compensated in any way by the Government for information provided. II. BACKGROUND: The Failure & Material Analysis Branch, Code GXMS, at NSWC Crane supports the Strategic Programs (SP) office. They provide material and failure analysis of semiconductor devices used in the Trident Missile. The probe station will be one of the tools used for material and failure analysis of the semiconductor devices. The probe station enables one to isolate individual components of a semiconductor device for testing and parameter extraction. III. Responses shall be: 1) Responses are requested by 1400/2:00PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 08 March 2017. Any response received after this date will also be considered but may not be included in initial reporting or assessments. 2) All responses should be given in PDF format and emailed to the contracting point of contract: Ms. Lorna Tribby at [email protected]. The subject line of the email should include the RFI number (N00164-17-S-NB47) and the respondent's name. If necessary, files too large for email can be sent via CD by the same response date to: Ms. Lorna Tribby Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division 300 HWY 361, BLD 121 Crane, IN 47522 3) Responses should not exceed six (6) pages and should be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font, single spaced with 1-inch margins. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked proprietary will be handled accordingly. 4) A suggested submission organization: a) A cover letter (optional). b) A cover page identifying the RFI number (N00164-17-S-NB47), the company name, mailing address, email address, telephone and fax numbers, website address (if available), duns number, cage code and/or tax ID number, business size category (large, small, small disadvantaged, etc.), and the name, telephone number, and e-mail address of a point of contact having the authority and knowledge to clarify responses with Government representatives. c) No more than five (5) pages including: 1. Objective: Clear and concise statement of the manufacturing and / or design capabilities of your organization. 2. Describe the capabilities of your organization in detail. 3. Describe any history that meets the requirements. 4. Characteristics, specifications, and certifications your organization holds as related to the capabilities, interests/focus items above, to include the below as applicable: a. Identify your organizations experience with probe stations. b. Identify your organization's products that are currently fielded and by whom. c. Intellectual property claims (if any). d. Explain how quality control is incorporated in your processes. e. Earliest availability for a technical demonstration at no cost or risk to the government. 5. Cost or pricing information to be used as Market Research for pricing history. Per Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.215-3 Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (Oct 1997): a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. (b) Although "proposal" and "offeror" may be used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal. All responses shall be unclassified. All assumptions, including any assumed Government support, shall be clearly identified. All proprietary and restricted information shall be clearly marked. All information marked as proprietary information will be safeguarded to prevent disclosures to non-government personnel and entities. Contractors must be properly registered in the Government System for Award Management database (SAM). Offerors may obtain information on SAM registration and annual confirmation requirements by calling 1-866-606-8220, or via the Internet at www.sam.gov. This request for information does not constitute an Invitation for Bids (IFB), a Request for Quote (RFQ) or a Request for Proposal (RFP) and it should not be construed as a commitment of any kind by the Government to issue a formal solicitation or ultimately award a contract. The US Government is in no way liable to pay for or reimburse any companies or entities that respond to this announcement. Any costs incurred by interested companies in response to this announcement will NOT be reimbursed. All information received in response to this notice that is marked proprietary will be handled accordingly. No contract will be awarded by issuing this RFI. Acknowledgement of receipt of responses will not be made, nor will respondents be notified of the NSWC Crane's view of the information received. Do not send any material that requires a non-disclosure agreement or identify information that is business sensitive. Responses to this notice will not be returned. Telephone calls/questions or inquiries will not be accepted. All information provided becomes U.S. Navy property and will not be returned. All proprietary information will be treated appropriately. Your interest in this response is appreciated. White papers may be submitted any time prior to expiration of this announcement. Electronic submissions and hard copy submissions will be reviewed if received by the closing date and time. All information marked as proprietary information will be safeguarded to prevent disclosures to non-governmental personnel and entities. Submissions regarding this announcement may be directed to the Contract Specialist, Ms. Lorna Tribby, telephone: 812-854-8761, e-mail: [email protected]. The mailing address is: COMMANDER; ATTN MS LORNA TRIBBY BLDG 121; NAVSURFWARCENDIV; 300 HIGHWAY 361; CRANE, IN 47522-5001. Please reference: Request for Information/Sources Sought Announcement Number (N00164-17-S-NB47) when responding to this notice. The technical POC is Mr. Phillip Baker, e-mail: [email protected], telephone 812-854-2105.