Description
NIST-SS25-21 PLEASE NOTE THIS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY Title: Micro specimens of thin film electroplated copper and micro-sized lead-free solder for mechanical testing to fracture. BACKGROUND The Applied Chemicals and Materials Division, in the Material Measurement Laboratory at NIST, is developing new metrology to measure the micromechanical properties, to fracture, of thin-film electroplated copper (Cu) and micro-sized lead-free solder. These materials are critical as interconnects for heterogeneous integration for advanced packaging. Cu is used for Cu-to-Cu hybrid bonding, the most advanced interconnect technology today and in the near future, while Sn-Ag-Cu (SAC) solder is used for all levels of packaging. The packaging industry relies on physics-based models and finite element models to predict the thermomechanical performance of these interconnects as well as to guide their design and process development and understand reliability-related issues. Such models require accurate material property data as inputs. Mechanical property data, to fracture, are lacking or sparse for these materials with size scales, chemical composition and microstructure similar to that of the interconnects. The characteristic length for Cu hybrid bonds is 1 micron, and that of solder can range from 1 micron to over 100 microns. Common practice is to use material property data measured from samples of Cu and/or solder that are dissimilar in size scales and/or with dissimilar microstructures from those used in Cu hybrid bonding and solder bumping, but such data is not accurate due to the effects of size, processing and microstructure on the properties. A state-of-the-art technique is to use nanoindentation to measure mechanical properties, however, nanoindentation tests are typically not to fracture, especially for ductile materials such as metals. NIST is therefore developing new measurement tools and techniques to measure various mechanical properties (such as tensile, shear, bending, fatigue) of freestanding micro-sized metal specimens with NIST-designed geometries, and to conduct these tests to fracture. However, NIST lacks a way to make appropriate specimens of Cu and solder. NIST has a need for a Research and Development (R&D) partner to fabricate appropriate micro-sized specimens for NIST to measure. These specimens need to be free-standing 1-10 micron-thick electroplated Cu, and 10 – 25 micron-thick SAC solder, with geometries designed by NIST, and with chemical composition and microstructure tailored to be similar to those of Cu hybrid bonded and solder bonded interconnects used in the heterogeneous integration industry. NIST needs the R&D partner to fabricate the specimens from different sources of materials: using in-house processing as well as by “cutting out” the required geometries from samples provided by NIST. NIST also needs the R&D partner to eventually transfer their fabrication methods and knowledge to NIST employees and allow the NIST employees to use their facilities to perform the fabrication work. These are the minimum requirements for the specimens and for the contractor are as follows: 1. The contractor shall fabricate micro “dog-bone” specimens from both electroplated Cu films and Sn-Ag-Cu (SAC) solder, using designs provided by NIST. These specimens may include but are not limited to tensile specimens, notched tensile specimens, shear specimens, fatigue specimens. The specimens shall have variations in their geometries and dimensions, as designed by NIST. a. The Cu specimens shall have thickness of 1 – 10 microns. b. The solder specimens shall have thickness of 10 – 25 microns. c. The widths of the specimens will be between 10 – 100 microns, subject to NIST’s needs which are to be determined based on the results of the R&D. d. The contractor shall characterize the specimens’ chemical composition and microstructure, and tailor the composition and microstructure to be similar to Cu hybrid bonds and solder microbumps used in industry for heterogeneous integration. e. The specimens shall be free-standing. f. The specimens shall include additional structural components suitable for interfacing with NIST’s measurement instruments. g. The specimens shall be fabricated entirely at the vendor’s location and shipped to NIST without being damaged. h. The first set of specimens shall be delivered to NIST within 12 months from receipt of funds. Additional specimens shall be delivered to NIST as and when NIST requests. i. The specimens shall be made by the vendor “from scratch”, as well as by excising from materials provided by NIST. j. Specimens made “from scratch” shall have chemical composition and microstructure similar to that used for Cu hybrid bonding and solder flip chip bonding. 2. The contractor shall be agile in their fabrication processes, by working closely and collaboratively and iteratively with NIST and responding rapidly (within a few days) to NIST’s needs if those needs change. 3. The contractor shall share all their methods and processes and data with NIST, such through joint publications with NIST as co-author and being a co-inventor on NIST’s patent that we will file in Year 3 for the testing methods. 4. The contractor shall have cleanroom fabrication capabilities that complement those at NIST, as well as microelectronics packaging and solder processing capabilities: a. The contractor shall have these cleanroom fabrication capabilities: photolithography with linewidths down to 2 microns, double-sided lithography, thick photoresist processing, double-sided DRIE, XeF2 etching, silicon wet-etching, HF etching, RIE, sputtering or e-beam evaporation of Ti, Cr, Al, Ni, Au, Cu films, growing of silicon oxide, electroplating of various metals, electroless plating of metals, wafer dicing. b. The contractor shall have the following packaging processing capabilities: solder dispensing, solder reflow ovens, flip-chip thermocompression bonding, high vacuum package sealing. c. The contractor shall at least have the following materials characterization capabilities: SEM, FIB, AFM, EDS, XRD, EBSD. 5. The contractor shall be an established member the US MEMS and semiconductor packaging R&D community for at least a minimum of ten (10) years and have a demonstrated deep expertise in both microfabrication and semiconductor packaging, especially solder processing. a. The contractor shall have multiple papers and patents in the field of microfabrication and semiconductor packaging processes. b. The contractor shall have held leadership roles in the MEMS and advanced packaging research fields for at least a decade. 6. In addition to delivering specimens “made from scratch” and specimens cut from materials provided by NIST, over all 3 years, in Year 3 the vendor shall also train a NIST federal employee to perform the processes that they developed and to access their facilities so that the NIST employee can perform the vendor’s fabrication processes on industry-owned material samples. The contractor shall not have the right to access the industry-owned samples themselves or any data from those samples, but will be required to assist the NIST employee with their processing work on such samples in a way that maintains that boundary. a. The requirements listed in #4a and b, #5 and #7 above apply to this section. b. The contractor shall have at least ten (10) years of experience working on and leading R&D projects that involve sensitive data: c. The contractor shall have at least ten (10) years of experience working on and leading R&D projects with classifications of CUI, ITAR or higher. d. The contractor shall have separate labs already established specifically for ITAR projects. HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. Please include only the following information, readable in either Microsoft Word 365, Microsoft Excel 365, or .pdf format, in the response. Submit the response by email to the Primary Point of Contact and, if specified, to the Secondary Point of Contact listed at the bottom of this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice. • Provide the complete name of your company, address, name of contact for follow-up questions, their email, their phone number and, if your company has an active registration in https://sam.gov, your company’s Unique Entity ID (UEI). • Details about what your company is capable of providing that meets or exceeds NIST’s minimum requirements. • Whether your company is an authorized reseller of the product or service being cited and evidence of such authorization. • Identify any aspects of the description of the requirements in the BACKGROUND section above that could be viewed as unduly restrictive or create unnecessary barriers that adversely affect your firm’s ability to fully participate in a procurement for such services and explain why. Please offer suggestions for how the requirements could be organized or structured to encourage the participation of small businesses. • For the NAICS code o Indicate whether your company is (a) a small business or (b) other than small business. See the Table of Small Business Size Standards and the associated .pdf download file for small business size standards and additional information. o If you believe the NAICS code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of product addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS code that you believe would be more appropriate for the planned procurement. • If your firm has existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts for products or services against which the Department may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information. • Describe your firm’s experience (as a prime, subcontractor, or consultant) providing the products or services described in Background section. • Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for the Government to know as part of its market research for this requirement. • Please let us know if you would like to engage to get a better understanding of the requirement or need additional information about the Government’s requirement for the products or services described in the Background section. QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE Questions regarding this notice may be submitted via email to the Primary Point of Contact listed in this notice. Questions should be submitted so that they are received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on February 28, 2025. Questions will be anonymized and answered via sources sought notice amendment following the question submission deadline. IMPORTANT NOTES The information received in response to this notice will be reviewed and considered so that the NIST may appropriately solicit for its requirements in the near future. This notice should not be construed as a commitment by the NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. This notice is not a request for a quotation. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotations. No award will be made as a result of this notice. NIST is not responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and appropriate. Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request.