CHIPS Microchannel plate gate upgrade module– Combined Sources Sought/Notice of Intent to Sole Source

***THIS IS A COMBINED SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE AND NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE***

In response to the CHIPS for America Act, NIST has a mission to perform and develop measurement science requested to support the domestic semiconductor industry. The Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is involved in materials characterization efforts using atom probe tomography (APT). A particular research focus of the atom probe instrument is to study the effect of laser wavelength on semiconductor materials to characterize, quantify, and ameliorate sources of measurement bias and uncertainty, thereby improving accuracy, repeatability, and reproducibility of APT measurements. This work involves three-dimensional (3D) atomic imaging of nanoscale samples in an APT instrument.  An APT instrument: (1) accepts nanoscale needle-shaped specimens and specimen array coupons for analysis, (2) triggers field ion evaporation of the specimen, (3) detects the emitted ions in time and space using time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry, and (4) generates a 3-Dimensional (3D) computational reconstruction of the evaporated volume that can be used in further analysis.

The Contractor shall deliver and install one microchannel plate gate (MCP gate) module upgrade for our existing LEAP 4000 X-Si atom probe microscope (S/N 5020) with features as defined in the “Minimum Requirements” section inclusive of FOB Destination.  This includes any required additional hardware (e.g. high voltage supply, processing electronics, cables) required for integration with our CAMECA LEAP 4000 X-SI. The MCP gate upgrade module will be covered under warranty for at least one (1) year to include all parts (non-consumables), software, and labor.

NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a solution that will achieve the objectives described above, in addition to the following essential requirements: 

CLIN 0001:

Description: Microchannel plate gate upgrade module.  

Quantity: One (1)

The MCP gate shall:

• Employ a nanosecond high-voltage pulse to gate the MCP detector in our CAMECA LEAP 4000 X-Si.
• The MCP gate will decrease the voltage on the MCPs by a sufficient amount that the MCPs are not saturated. In this way, it is possible to maintain a high sensitivity, even near very intense bunches, which are “gated off” and would otherwise saturate our detector.
• The gate pulse should be applied such that it does not affect the electric fields inside the flight tube of the TOF mass spectrometer.
• Enable the detector to act as a fast shutter to ignore specific signals in a defined TOF window relative to the trigger pulse (t0).
• Allow fast switching of MCP amplification, thus allowing NIST to choose to ignore signals that arrive in a specific time window following the trigger signal in the TOF mass spectrometry measurement required for performing atom probe tomography.
• Accommodate pulse frequency rates from 100 kHz to 200 kHz.

1. MCP Gate Hardware:  The MCP gate shall include hardware that meets the following requirements:

• The MCP gate module upgrade shall be installed on an existing CAMECA LEAP 4000 X-Si instrument (S/N 5020) at NIST Boulder Laboratories.
• The MCP gate module upgrade shall include any necessary hardware including high voltage supply, timing electronics, cables, etc.  NIST will supply a trigger puylse from a mode-locked laser and will supply a digital delay generator for moving the gated time window.
• The MCP gate module upgrade shall allow for gating our TOF mass spectrometry signal to ignore specific timing events of NIST choosing (e.g. events caused from scattering of electrons or ions in the vacuum chamber of the APT microscope).

1. MCP Gate LEAP Integration

• Control and operation of the MCP gate shall be fully integrated into the existing CAMECA LEAP 4000 X-Si instrument and controlled through a digital delay generator (supplied by NIST).  

NIST conducted market research from January 2026 through April 2026 by speaking with colleagues, performing internet searches, and speaking with vendors to determine what sources could meet NIST’s minimum requirements.  The results of that market research revealed that only CAMECA Instruments, Inc. (UEI: GE2SRXMY7453) appears to be capable of meeting NIST’s requirements to include compatibility with existing NIST CAMECA LEAP equipment.

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
• 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.
• 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 and the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice. Questions should be submitted so that they are received with 5 days of this posting.  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!