Notice of Intent to Noncompetitively Acquire CHIPS R&D On-axis TEM tomography Holder

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking to acquire an on-axis transmission electron microscopy (TEM) tomography holder for analyzing wire-based specimens from the CAMECA Invizo 6000 atom probe microscope. This holder is required for the CHIPS atom probe tomography project, which aims to study the characterization of metals, semiconductors, and insulators in support of the CHIPS Act. The holder must meet certain practical requirements, including being compatible with the wire-based atom probe specimens required by the CAMECA Invizo 6000 atom probe. • The holder must be capable of analyzing wire-based specimens with strict size and geometry requirements. • The holder will be used to examine atom probe samples for the Invizo 6000 deep ultraviolet atom probe. • The capability directly supports the CHIPS Metrology R&D Grand Challenge 2: advanced metrology for future microelectronics manufacturing. • NIST conducted market research and found that only Fischione Instruments appears to be capable of meeting NIST's minimum requirements.