Bid document

Notice ID Number: NIST-SS26-CHIPS-13

Title: Sources Sought Notice for Mid-IR Optical Frequency Comb Department of Commerce Advanced Acquisition Planning (AAP) Entry Number: 51138 The purpose of this sources sought notice is to conduct market research and identify potential sources of commercial products/services that satisfy the Government’s anticipated needs.

BACKGROUND

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will conduct the measurement science, or metrology, critical to the development of new materials, packaging, and production methods in chip manufacturing. The CHIPS Metrology Program includes research in Grand Challenge 1, Metrology for Materials Purity, Properties and Provenance. To address this Grand Challenge, the project Optical Impurity Analysis of Semiconductor Gases for Enhanced Quality Systems seeks to purchase Optical Frequency Comb Systems, quantity three (2), to perform broadband spectroscopy in support of spectral reference databases with tens of thousands of users, as well as enable new laser diagnostics for complex semiconductor processes. Additionally, the heat signatures of objects large and small, as well as the spectral signatures of the gas species between a heat source and the observer, are critical pieces of information for the space, defense, and satellite industries. These industries require innovative optical technology and metrology to support mission reliability and to establish traceability and calibration procedures for infrared spectroradiometry at wavelengths beyond 15 µm. NIST aims to address a critical gap in spectroradiometry and molecular spectroscopy, namely the long-wave infrared wavelength range from 5 μm to 100 μm. To do so, NIST seeks an Optical Frequency Comb System, quantity one (1), to perform broadband spectroscopy and spectroradiometer calibrations to enable improved reliability and growth in the space, defense, and satellite industries.
To improve and enable laser diagnostics in the semiconductor research and development space, spectral reference data is required to enable the quantitative detection of trace species in gases, plasmas, and at interfaces. The acquisition of spectral reference data benefits from laser sources with broad spectral coverage and intrinsic frequency accuracy. Additionally, broadband spectroradiometry in the long-wave infrared requires accurate optical frequencies to be delivered to test newly designed dispersive spectrometers using light sources with high spectral