NOTICE OF INTENT-Flying Probe Substrate Test Station

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Acquisition Management Division intends to negotiate with Mycronic, Inc., located in Tewksbury, MA, on a sole source basis under the authority of FAR Subpart 13.106-1(b), soliciting from a single source, for a flying probe substrate test station. Specific Requirements are as follows:

Flying Probe Substrate Test Station: Be a single sided tester with a vacuum table. Have 4 test probes that may be positioned anywhere within the maximum substrate area. The NAICS Code is 334413 –Semiconductor and Related Device Manufacturing, with a Size Standard of 1,2500 employees.

For this requirement, NIST anticipates negotiating and awarding a firm-fixed-price purchase order to Mycronic, Inc. Interested parties that can demonstrate they could satisfy the requirement listed above for NIST must clearly and unambiguously identify their capability to do so in writing on or before the response date for this notice. This notice of intent is not a solicitation.

Information submitted in response to this notice will be used solely to determine whether competitive procedures could be used for this acquisition. If competitive procedures are not used it is estimated that an award will be issued by 7/22/2024. Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to angela.hitt@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted to angela.hitt@nist.gov no later than the date and time provided herein this posting.

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AN OPEN COMPETITION: The Device Fabrication Group (687.11) has a number of new deliverables and programs that require a Flying Probe Substrate Test Station that provide full testing of many thousands of test points on 3 in wafers, 150 mm wafers, and parts diced from such wafers. These test points can beincredibly small (less than 40 microns) on very tight pitches with a four-wire requirement. This type of testing is not possible with manual or probe-card testing stations.

For that reason, and due to lab space constraints, we require a Flying Probe Substrate Test Station that can accept our wafer formats and has micron-level probe placement that is compact in overall size. If the Government did not purchase the Mycronic ATG S3-4, there could be a range of undesirable outcomes. If the Flying Probe Station only has only 2 probes, we would lose four wire testing capability. If the machine cannot accommodate our wafer formats, it would be useless to us.

We don't currently have enough lab space for a machine that is larger in overall size or the resources to reinforce the floor for a more massive machine. If the placement accuracy was not sufficient, we would need to redesign our wafers with an expected degraded performance that may not meet our deliverables. These outcomes would not be best value to the Government.