RFI - Mask Aligner

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. NO PROPOSALS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED IN RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE.

This notice is issued by the NASA/GSFC to post a draft Statement of Work to solicit responses from interested parties. This document is for information and planning purposes and to allow industry the opportunity to verify reasonableness and feasibility of the requirement, as well as promote competition.

The Detector Systems Branch of GSFC has a requirement to acquire a contact mask-aligner system with align-for-bond capabilities, for use in the Detector Development Lab (DDL). The system has two main functions, 1) is to align a mask to a substrate (typically a wafer) and 2) to expose UV light onto the substrate through the mask. The align and expose feature is used to transfer patterns from metal patterned glass plates to silicon wafers (or other substrates) containing a UV sensitive resist coating. Additionally, an align-for-bond feature allows multiple substrates to be aligned together and held in place prior to transfer via fixturing to a separate system which bonds the two substrates together maintaining the previous alignment. The bonding system is not in scope of this requirement. The current requirement is for a system that can align and expose and can also align for subsequent bonding.

The Detector Systems Branch has a separate bonding system. The requirement presented here is for a system that shall be capable of mask-to-substrate alignment followed by UV light exposure and shall be capable of alignment for bonding utilizing the existing bonding system. Any fixtures or substrate-holding required to interface with our bonding system shall be included and work seamlessly with the existing bonding system and the alignment system. The bond alignment system shall be capable of handling wafers from 3 up to 200mm diameter.

Additionally, the mask aligner shall be capable of standard contact alignment modes that include, soft-contact, hard-contact, vacuum-contact, and proximity mode. The system will also utilize an LED generated UV exposure system of I-line, G-H-line and be capable of uniform exposure across a 200mm wafer better than 2.5% uniformity. The system shall also include vibration suppression and be capable of handling wafers from 1 pieces up to 200mm in diameter. The system shall be configured for Top Side Alignment and have separate microscopes to support Front to Back Side Alignment in addition to an IR light source for through wafer alignment. The system shall have computer hardware running on Windows 10 or later and equipped with software to control the machine. The controlling software shall be capable of target training, pattern recognition, manual operation as well as semi-auto and full auto alignment modes for assisting with wafer processing without operator intervention. The system shall be capable of alignment accuracies less than 0.5 um. Installation, DDP shipping and extensive training and support shall also be included. The system shall be built to SEMI S2 safety standards and be UL or CE compliant.

Such a system is essential for nearly all device fabrication projects under development and in production in GSFC's Detector Development Lab. While the DDL has multiple processes to create patterns for devices, contact lithography remains the most used among all projects. The requirement is important to maintaining capability in the DDL

This presolicitation synopsis is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government pay for the information submitted in response. The Government may not respond to questions/concerns submitted. The Government will use the information to finalize the RFP as necessary.

All comments or questions shall be submitted electronically via email to Stephanie Stephens, stephanie.d.stephens@nasa.gov , no later than July 9, 2021, 4:00 pm est. When responding reference Mask Aligner System.

NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. The Center Ombudsman for this acquisition can be found at http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/pub/pub_library/Omb.html .

If a solicitation is released, then it and any additional documents will be available on www.Sam.gov. It is the offeror's responsibility to monitor this website for the release of the solicitation and amendments (if any). Potential offerors will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the solicitation and amendments, if any.