Combined Sources Sought/Notice of Intent: Digital Lock-in Amplifiers

THIS IS A COMBINED SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE AND NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE

Announcement Number: NIST-SS26-CHIPS-71

Subject: Notice of Intent to Noncompetitively Acquire Digital Lock-in Amplifiers

This notice is not a request for a quotation. A solicitation document will not be issued, and quotations will not be requested.

This acquisition is being conducted under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b) via FAR 13.106-1(b). The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334516, Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing.

BACKGROUND

The semiconductor supply chain is global, specialized, and interconnected. Chipmakers do business with thousands of individual suppliers that provide the highly complex materials and tools used to produce semiconductors. To address the lack of full visibility into the semiconductors markets supply chain and R&D ecosystem gaps, NIST will conduct the measurement science, or metrology, critical to the development of new materials, packaging, and production methods in chip manufacturing. 

The Photonics and Optomechanics Group develops micromechanical resonators for precision sensing (e.g., acceleration, ultrasound, mass sensing) and quantum information science (e.g., quantum memory, quantum frequency conversion) where the resonance frequencies of interest are often in the microwave range and in excess of 1 GHz. A microwave digital lock-in amplifier is needed for the measurement of microwave acoustic resonators that are being developed for real-time mass measurements within material deposition processes, among several other applications. The system must be able to operate at frequencies up to 1.8 GHz, be capable of measuring the amplitude and phase of signals at these frequencies, and provide a phase locked loop with proportional-integral-derivative feedback control so that mechanical resonances can be tracked and characterized.

A digital lock-in amplifier is needed to measure the amplitude and phase of radio frequency signals up to 1.8 GHz. Specifically, the lock-in amplifier will be used to measure the electrical response of microscale acoustic resonators while semiconductor materials are deposited on them using atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes, providing time-resolved detection of these processes. This is part of a larger effort to perform high-fidelity process metrology for ALD and use the resulting data sets to build a digital twin of ALD processes.  ALD is essential for state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing, where it is used to create electrical isolation layers in transistors that are a countable number of atoms thick. The resulting ALD digital twin will allow U.S. manufacturers to refine their processes using virtual models, thereby providing optimized process conditions that will increase fabrication yield and push towards the fundamental limits of transistor performance.

The microscale acoustic resonators used in this project will operate in the range of 1 GHz to 1.8 GHz because this provide the necessary measurement bandwidth to observe ALD process dynamics. As a result, a lock-in amplifier that matches with the resonance frequencies of the sensors is needed. The pairing of the lock-in amplifier with our custom microwave acoustic resonators will provide unprecedented measurement clarity and time resolution, making the approach invaluable for future ALD process development. Fabrication of the microwave acoustic resonators will be completed within the second quarter of FY26. The lock-in amplifier must be purchased in FY26 to meet the milestone of demonstrating of our new measurement method by the end of FY26.

 The minimum requirements are outlined below.

Line Item 0001:

Microwave digital lock-in amplifier

Quantity:  1

1. Key Capabilities

1. A digital lock-in amplifier that works at frequencies up to 1.8 GHz.  
2. Operation with the Zurich Instruments LabOne software.

1. Technical Specifications

1. Number of independent lock-in channels: 2
2. Frequency range: DC to 1.8 GHz or greater
3. Lock-in input maximum analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) rate: ≥ 4 GSa/s
4. Lock-in input ADC resolution: ≥ 14-bit
5. Lock-in input voltage range: ≤ 10 mV to ≥ 1 V
6. Lock-in input voltage noise below 800 MHz: ≤ 3.5 nV/rt-Hz
7. Dynamic reserve: ≥ 100 dB
8. Output signal frequency range: DC to 1.8 GHz or greater
9. Output signal maximum digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) rate: ≥ 6 GSa/s
10. Output signal DAC resolution: ≥ 14-bit
11. Output signal voltage range: ≤ 10 mV to ≥ 0.5 V
12. Input and output signal connectors: Lock-in input connector: SMA or 2.92 mm, 50 ohm
13. Number of dual-phase demodulators: ≥ 8
14. Demodulator filter bandwidth: selectable from ≤ 5 mHz to ≥ 10 MHz
15. Demodulator filter slope: selectable from 6 to 24 db/octave
16. Frequency reference resolution: 50 microHz
17. Auxiliary signals: 4 output channels, 2 input channels
18. Auxiliary output channel specification: ≥ 14 bit, ≥ 50 MSa/s
19. Auxiliary input channel specification: ≥ 14 bit, ≥ 4 GSa/s
20. Internal clock short term stability: ≤ 0.05 ppm deviation
21. Internal clock aging: ≤ 0.3 ppm/year
22. Software: Run using LabOne software platform for interoperability with existing lock-in instruments
23. 4 independent proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers and phase locked loops with at least 1 MHz bandwidth must be included
24. The instrument must be able to measure the amplitude and phase of up to 8 different independent frequencies simultaneously
25. The instrument must be able to perform amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM) and demodulate the modulated signals
26. Computer interface: USB 3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet
27. Line power: 120 V AC, 60 Hz

Multiple companies were found through market research that could possibly meet our needs and were contacted; however, it was found that only Zurich Instrument’s GHFLI lock-in amplifier can meet NIST’s technical specifications. In particular, it is the only lock-in amplifier on the market that can measure radio frequencies up to 1.8 GHz while meeting our voltage noise and voltage amplitude requirements. The requirement of the measurement of signals up to 1.8 GHz is a direct result of the microwave acoustic resonators that we have developed. The resonators vibrate due to the use a piezoelectric film that is only 1 micrometer. This small thickness results in resonance frequencies that range from 500 MHz to 1.8 GHz (resonance frequencies are inversely proportional to the piezoelectric film thickness). Further, NIST currently uses other lock-in amplifiers from Zurich Instruments and they all use the same interface software, LabOne. NIST has developed code for data acquisition and system control with LabOne and it will provide considerable time and cost savings to the government to use this code with the lock-in amplifier purchased here. Use of another vendor's lock-in amplifier would result in several weeks of code development and testing with unknown outcomes.  As stated above, no other manufacturer can provide a lock-in amplifier that meets all of our specifications. Zurich Instrument GHFLI can go up to 1.8 GHz while meeting all of our other specifications.

NIST conducted market research from September 2024 – December 2025 by conducting online searches, discussions with sources, and discussions with colleagues to determine what sources could meet NIST’s minimum requirements.  The results of that market research revealed that only Zurich Instruments, TECHNOPARKSTRASSE 1, ZURICH, 8005 CHE, UEI: WXNAU91NVWB6 appears to be capable of meeting NIST’s requirements.

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE

In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. Include only the following information provided below.  Submit the response by email to the Primary Point of Contact and, if specified, to the Secondary Point of Contact no later than 1/7/25, 5:00pm ET.

1. 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).
2. Details about what your company is capable of providing that meets or exceeds NIST’s minimum requirements (Capability Statement).
3. Whether your company is an authorized reseller of the product or service being cited and evidence of such authorization.
4. 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 company’s ability to provide a technically acceptable product.    Please offer suggestions for how the requirements could be organized or structured to encourage the participation of small businesses.
5. For the NAICS code
   1. 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.
   2. 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. 
6.  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.
7. Describe your company’s experience (as a prime, subcontractor, or consultant) providing the products or services described in Background section.
8. Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for the Government to know as part of its market research for this requirement.
9. Contact the primary and/or secondary point of contact (provided below) if you would like to engage in discussions to gain 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 (provided above).

QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE

Questions regarding this notice must be submitted via email to the Primary Point of Contact and the Secondary Point of Contact. Questions must be submitted so that they are received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on 2/13/26 to receive a government response prior to the close of this notice. Questions will be anonymized and answered via sources sought notice amendment following the question submission deadline.

IMPORTANT NOTES

1. 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. 
2. This notice should not be construed as a commitment by the NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. 
3. This notice is not a request for a quotation. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotations.
4. No award will be made as a result of this notice. 
5. NIST is not responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice.
6. NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and appropriate.