The Department of Commerce, specifically the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is seeking responses to a Sources Sought Notice for the procurement of a commercial semi-automatic probe station. This equipment is essential for conducting reliability testing on silicon carbide field effect transistors (FETs), which are increasingly used in high-power semiconductor applications across various industries, including electric vehicles and energy storage. The probe station must meet specific technical requirements, including the capability to probe 300 mm wafers, accommodate small pad sizes, and include features such as a heated wafer chuck and a digital microscope. Interested vendors should submit their responses, including company details and relevant experience, to Cielo Ibarra at cielo.ibarra@nist.gov by December 12, 2025, for consideration in NIST's market research efforts.

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Questions and answers.docx

This document outlines technical specifications and requirements, likely for a government Request for Proposal (RFP) related to instrumentation or a research grant. Key requirements include using Keysight instrumentation, accommodating die sizes of 5x5 mm and 10x10 mm, and handling a maximum current and voltage of 100 V / 100 mA. A critical detail is the need for a probe noise floor of less than 1 pA, with an acknowledgment that heated chucks may increase noise. The document also specifies the essential requirement for true Kelvin capability. These detailed specifications are crucial for vendors or grantees to ensure compliance and proper system functionality.

NIST-SS26-CHIPS-44

**PLEASE NOTE THIS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY**

Title:  **Commercial semi-automatic probe stations**

**BACKGROUND**

Silicon carbide field effect transistors (FETs) have emerged as a superior solution to silicon FETs for high power semiconductor applications. In recent years, the silicon carbide FET industry has grown at a significant rate with applications in photovoltaics, the power grid, electric vehicles, energy storage, and more. Despite the commercial success of these devices, the industry is plagued by reliability problems, often leading to the need for redundancy in integrated systems. Arguably most important among these issues is the extrinsic breakdown characteristics of the FET gate oxide. Studying this problem requires a deep statistical understanding of device behavior, and innovative solutions for pre-screening from the factory. A large-scale, multi-faceted reliability testing platform is required in order to find solutions.

The CHIPS R&D Program Office intends to purchase a 300 mm wafer probing station which will facilitate the study of transistor characteristics, leakage currents, and breakdown behavior of silicon carbide FET gate dielectrics. This purchase aligns with the CHIPS R&D Programs Office’s mission to standardize new materials, processes, and equipment for microelectronics research. The resulting data will be compared to statistical breakdown data obtained through our effort to create a massively parallel testing platform. The data will also be compared to that of industry standard pre-screening tests on identical samples in order to verify or dispute their accuracy. Similar methodology may be applied to other gate oxide reliability problems in the future.

The minimum requirements are as follows:

**Line Item 0001:**

**Description:  Insert brief description of item (e.g. Optical Table, Part Number)**

**Quantity:  1**

1. **Technical Specifications**
   1. **Must be a semiautomatic wafer probing station capable of probing wafers up to 300 mm in diameter**
   2. **Must be capable of probing both whole wafers and pre-diced dies**
   3. **Must be four probes capable of probing pad sizes as small as 40 µm x 40 µm, with a pitch of 60 µm. Probes must have magnetic bases.**
   4. **Must be compatible with and include low-noise, blade-style probe tips**
   5. **Must include a heated wafer chuck capable of reaching temperatures of at least 200 degrees Celsius**
   6. **Must include digital microscope capable of imaging 5 µm features**
   7. **Must include user-friendly software for control of probing and microscope manipulation**
   8. **Must include vibration isolation**

**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 and its past experience with design and manufacture of magneto-resistive sensors. Any relevant past performance.

•           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 and/or Product Service Code code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of product addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS/PSC 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 December 12, 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.

Commercial semi-automatic probe stations

**Notice ID Number:  NIST-SS26-CHIPS-44**

**Title: Notice of Intent to Sole Source to Micronix USA for High Vacuum Positioning Stages**

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing High Vacuum Compatible Sample Positioning Stages. If no alternate sources are identified, the Government intends to issue a Sole Source Award to Micronix USA, 11555 Coley River CIR Suite A, Fountain Valley, CA 92708 under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i); only one source reasonably available. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334516.

**BACKGROUND**

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Physical Measurements Laboratory (PML) Nanoscale Device Characterization Division (NDCD) requires high vacuum compatible sample positioning stages to computerized control of nine axes within a vacuum chamber.

To meet mission requirements, the NDCD needs to acquire motorized stages for the computerized control of nine axes within a vacuum chamber. These stages will allow the precise positioning of five rotary axes, three linear axes, and one goniometric rotation axis; these are integral components for a new experimental apparatus that will harness short extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) light for the non-destructive measurement of the smallest features of computer chips, their transistors.  This procurement supports the CHIPS R&D Metrology Program's Grand Challenge 2 to advance metrology for future microelectronics manufacturing and our CHIPS R&D project 2.07, “EUV Scatterometry.”

  The axes definitions, geometry, and organization of these axes is shown in an attachment labeled “High Vacuum Motorized Stages Specifications.pdf” but is also described below:  All stages will be utilized within a high-vacuum environment for a new apparatus.  Our experiment will have two modes of operation: “calibration” and “sample measurement”.  In the calibration, EUV radiation passes through three aligned, rotating NIST-designed polarization modules to characterize EUV polarization states with respect to the three rotary axes; this set of three rotary stages is the “Calibration Set”.  In the sample measurement, the central polarizer & stage is removed and replaced by a sample mounted to a six-axis stack of motion stages; this set of six axes is the “Measurement Set”.  Note that the sample measurement also utilizes two of the three stages in the “Calibration Set,” and NIST plans to utilize the one linear lift axis to support both sample positioning and calibration, emphasizing the need for stage interoperability.

  The application of these sets of stages is in the accurate reconstruction of dimensional information from the nondestructive reflection and diffraction off a sample under test using polarized light.  The “Calibration Set” stages enable the characterization and then harnessing of EUV polarization.  The “Measurement Set” is essential for precise sample positioning relative to six axes: correcting tilt, aligning the sample’s orientation, adjusting grazing angle, and positioning in 3-D space relative to the two colinear rotated polarization modules.

  The objective of the required stages is the repeatable measurement of the sample under test using EUV radiation with precise control of not just polarization state but also the grazing angle with respect to the sample.  In addition, two linear stages will further enable indexing of several locations on the sample, allowing the sequential measurement of multiple targets on the sample under test under the same experimental conditions.  Precise control and foreknowledge of the experimental conditions are required to optimally convert measurements of the reflection and diffraction into dimensional information with uncertainties.

**General Requirements:**

**TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL STAGES:**

**Vacuum requirements:**

Each stage shall be compatible with a high vacuum system, defined here as having a base pressure below 10^(-6) Torr.

The stages shall be able to connect electrically to external electronics and power supplies through vacuum feedthrough(s).  Vacuum feedthrough(s) are addressed as Line Item 0008.

**Electronics requirements:**

Each stage shall have vacuum-compatible cabling at least 60 cm (24 inches) long (extension cabling OK) with individual stages connectorized compatible with the vacuum feedthrough(s).

Each stage shall have a power supply and a controller for each stage axis (multi-axis OK).

Cabling shall be provided between power supplies and controllers to the feedthroughs.

Power supplies for these stages shall accept 120 VAC, 60 Hz.

Cabling shall be provided between the controllers and a NIST-provided computer (e.g., GPIB, USB, etc.) for coordinated movement of the axes.

**Encoder requirements:**

Each stage shall have encoders readable using these electronics.

Vendors shall indicate the available technologies for the encoders (e.g., optical, inductive, etc.).

**Software requirements:**

LabView VI’s SDK and generic GUI (Windows) required.

**Condition and packaging:**

Stages and in-vacuum accessories must be cleaned and bagged for high-vacuum service.

NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a solution that will achieve the objectives described above.

**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 in this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice.  Please note that to be considered for award under any official solicitation, the entity must be registered and “active” in SAM at the time of solicitation response.

* 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).

* Identify the equipment that your company sells that can meet the objectives addressed in the BACKGROUND section of this notice.  For each product recommended to meet the Government’s requirement, provide the following:

* Manufacturer name

* Model number

* Technical specifications

* If your company is not the manufacturer, provide information on your company’s status as an authorized reseller of the product(s)

* Describe performance capabilities of the product(s) your company recommends to meet the Government’s requirements.  Additionally, if there are other features or functions that you believe would assist NIST in meeting its objectives described above, please discuss in your response.

* Discuss whether the equipment that your company sells and which you describe in your response to this notice may be customized to specifications and indicate any limits to customization.

* Identify any aspects of the NIST market research notice, including instructions, and draft minimum specifications in the BACKGROUND section you cannot meet and state why.  Please offer suggestions for how the market research notice and draft minimum specifications could be made more competitive.

* State whether the proposed equipment is manufactured in the United States and, if not, state the name of the country where the equipment is manufactured.

* Identify any plans/possibilities for changes in manufacturing location of the aforementioned equipment and provide relevant details, including timeline.

* For the NAICS code listed in this notice:

* 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.

* Describe services that are available with the purchase of the aforementioned equipment from your company such as installation, training, and equipment maintenance.

* Describe standard terms and conditions of sale offered by your company for the recommended equipment such as: delivery time after your company accepts the order; FOB shipping terms; manufacturer warranty (including details regarding nature and duration); if available, description(s) of available extended warranty; equipment setup and test; operator and service instruction manual(s); cleanup after installation; and if applicable, other offered services.  Provide a copy of manufacturer standard terms and conditions that typically relate to the sale of the specified equipment, if available.

* State whether your company offers facility renovation services related to installation of the recommended equipment at its delivery destination, if required per the NIST-identified minimum specifications, and provide description of said services.  Indicate if your company performs the facility renovation services or typically subcontracts the work to another company.  Indicate if your company would be interested in inspecting the intended installation site during the market research phase.

* State published price, discount, or rebate arrangements for recommended equipment and/or provide link to access company’s published prices for equipment and services.

* If the recommended equipment and related services are available for purchase on any existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts against which NIST may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.

* Identify any customers in the public or private sectors to which you provided the recommended or similar equipment.  Include customer(s) information: company name, phone number, point of contact, email address.

* Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for NIST to know as part of its market research for this requirement.

* State if you require NIST to provide additional information to improve your understanding of the government’s requirement and/or would like to meet with NIST representatives to discuss the requirement and the capabilities of the identified equipment.

**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 by December 15,2025. If the Contracting Officer determines that providing a written amendment to this notice to document question(s) received would benefit other potential respondents, the questions would be anonymized, and a written response to such question(s) would be provided via an amendment to this notice.

**IMPORTANT NOTES**

This notice is for market research purposes and should not be construed as a commitment by NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract.  There is no solicitation available at this time.

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.

NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate.

Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

After a review of the responses received, a synopsis and solicitation may be published on GSA’s eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered an adequate response to any such solicitation(s).

Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request.

Notice of Intent to Sole Source to Micronix USA for High Vacuum Positioning Stages

NIST-SS26-CHIPS-44

**PLEASE NOTE THIS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY**

Title:  **Commercial semi-automatic probe stations**

**BACKGROUND**

Silicon carbide field effect transistors (FETs) have emerged as a superior solution to silicon FETs for high power semiconductor applications. In recent years, the silicon carbide FET industry has grown at a significant rate with applications in photovoltaics, the power grid, electric vehicles, energy storage, and more. Despite the commercial success of these devices, the industry is plagued by reliability problems, often leading to the need for redundancy in integrated systems. Arguably most important among these issues is the extrinsic breakdown characteristics of the FET gate oxide. Studying this problem requires a deep statistical understanding of device behavior, and innovative solutions for pre-screening from the factory. A large-scale, multi-faceted reliability testing platform is required in order to find solutions.

The CHIPS R&D Program Office intends to purchase a 300 mm wafer probing station which will facilitate the study of transistor characteristics, leakage currents, and breakdown behavior of silicon carbide FET gate dielectrics. This purchase aligns with the CHIPS R&D Programs Office’s mission to standardize new materials, processes, and equipment for microelectronics research. The resulting data will be compared to statistical breakdown data obtained through our effort to create a massively parallel testing platform. The data will also be compared to that of industry standard pre-screening tests on identical samples in order to verify or dispute their accuracy. Similar methodology may be applied to other gate oxide reliability problems in the future.

The minimum requirements are as follows:

**Line Item 0001:**

**Description:  Insert brief description of item (e.g. Optical Table, Part Number)**

**Quantity:  1**

1. **Technical Specifications**
   1. **Must be a semiautomatic wafer probing station capable of probing wafers up to 300 mm in diameter**
   2. **Must be capable of probing both whole wafers and pre-diced dies**
   3. **Must be four probes capable of probing pad sizes as small as 40 µm x 40 µm, with a pitch of 60 µm. Probes must have magnetic bases.**
   4. **Must be compatible with and include low-noise, blade-style probe tips**
   5. **Must include a heated wafer chuck capable of reaching temperatures of at least 200 degrees Celsius**
   6. **Must include digital microscope capable of imaging 5 µm features**
   7. **Must include user-friendly software for control of probing and microscope manipulation**
   8. **Must include vibration isolation**

**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 and its past experience with commercial semi-automatic probe stations. Any relevant past performance.

•           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 and/or Product Service Code code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of product addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS/PSC 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 December 12, 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.

Commercial semi-automatic probe stations

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