1.0 Introduction and Scope NASA/GSFC is seeking partners to propose in response to NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) Early Career Initiative (ECI) opportunity. NASA/GSFC is interested in partners that can collaborate on the development of highly innovative space hardware technologies that includes hands-on development and testing. The project team will be led by a NASA/GSFC early career civil servant employee and include any combination of highly qualified external partner(s). Proposing core teams will include NASA civil servants and no more than two external partners (e.g., from academic, commercial, other government agencies, etc.). Teams must propose innovative space hardware-focused projects lasting no more than 2 years and costing no more than $600K in procurements. The general approach will be milestone-based with a continuation review after the first year and a final presentation to NASA Headquarters in the last year. For this partnership opportunity dealing with the preparation of ECI proposals, there will be no exchange of funds between the partnering team(s). Responses to this notice will serve as the basis for selection of proposal partners for ECI. 2. Technical Objectives NASA Goddard (GSFC) seeks to design, fabricate, test, and package radiation hardened silicon carbide (SiC) power devices (Schottky diodes and MOSFETs) for use in lunar environments. Diodes produced should have maximum ratings of at least 1200 Volts, 40 Amperes, and reverse recovery time less than 50 nanoseconds. MOSFETs produced should have maximum ratings of at least 1200 Volts, 40 Amperes, and ON-state resistance less than 0.024 Ohms. The devices shall be designed to experience no catastrophic Single Event Effects (SEE) at or below 1200 Volts with irradiation at Linear Energy Transfer (LET) of at least 40 MeV-cm2/mg. The devices shall also exhibit a Total Ionizing Dose (TID) hardness of at least 100 krad (Si). The applicant should demonstrate strong, industry leading capabilities and expertise in the following areas: Ability to fabricate custom devices in small volume for research and test Manufacturing of high voltage, high temperature SiC devices (5 kV/200 °C) ISO9001:2015-certified fabrication facility with capacity to deliver SiC devices in volume Experience in minimizing ON-state resistance with non-standard layer thickness Device testing and packaging especially for heavy-ion testing Experience in transferring device manufacturing processes to 6” SiC high volume fabrication houses 3. Responsibilities of partners NASA/GSFC reserves the right to communicate with potential proposal partners for additional information about their interest and capability. NASA/GSFC reserves the option to not select any teaming partners under this offering on the basis of material received. All information received in response to this notice that is marked 'Proprietary' will be handled and protected accordingly. 4. Responding to the Sources Sought Synopsis Potential partners may submit questions to Irene Bibyk via email at
[email protected]. Pertinent information from questions and answers will be shared with all interested parties that respond with an interest to submit a proposal, without disclosing the identity of the sources of the questions. Send proposal responses via email to Irene Bibyk (
[email protected]) by June 15, 2020. Written responses shall : 1. Not exceed 5 pages per proposal, plus up to 4 1-page resumes for individuals 2. Use an Arial font text with a size not smaller than 12 point except for tables and chart graphics which can use 10 point 3. Include all information requested in this notice 4. Provide a Point of Contact and email to address questions from NASA Response to this notice must: 1. Address capabilities the responder has to offer 2. Identify particularly critical or challenging areas that have been overcome 3. Indicate the resources (skill and time) that would be allocated to the technology development phase. 4. Describe the work that is similar to the proposed area: to include grants and/or contracts, etc. 5. Selection Criteria for Awarding Partnership Opportunity GSFC will evaluate the responses based on the following criteria: Technical 1. Feasibility of the proposed technology development approach 2. Effectiveness of the capabilities and qualifications to meet the proposed technology developments 3. Effectiveness of the processes (including methods) and/or facilities to support the proposed technical areas 4. Relevance and effectiveness of experience and past similar performance to meet the proposed technology development areas Innovative Approaches and Partnering 1. Innovativeness of the technology development concepts as applied to the designated GSFC technology areas identified in Section 2 2. Likelihood to meaningfully advance the technology leading to its eventual utilization 3. Ability to work as a part of a government-industry team that may include other industrial partners, academia and/or other government agencies 4. Innovativeness of the management and/or technical partnering approaches that could be used to optimize resources and technical development, including a description on how the approach will help successfully execute the technology development work plan Cost 1. Reasonableness of cost and schedule cost estimates