Finland – Laboratoriuminstrumenten, optische en precisie-instrumenten (uitgezonderd brillen) – Plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition tool

THE SUBJECT OF THE PROCUREMENT The subject of the procurement is a plasma-enhanced automated cassette to cassette chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system for deposition of dielectric thin films (SiO#, SiN, TEOS, SiON, a Si) for research and pilot line use in the VTT Micronova cleanroom. DIRECT AWARD, Article 40 2(2) of Finnish Procurement act (1397/2016) The procurement will be carried out as a direct award in accordance with 40 article Section 2(2) of the Finnish Public Procurement Act. According to the 40 § section 2(2) of the Act on Public Contracts (1397/2016), only a certain supplier can implement the procurement for a technical reason, or for a reason related to protecting an exclusive right; it shall be a further condition that there are no reasonable alternatives or substitute solutions, and that the absence of competition is not due to an artificial narrowing of the terms and conditions of the procurement.

The justification for direct procurement applies in this case, as VTT already operates an existing deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) system manufactured by SPTS. In order to extend the operational lifetime of the existing etch chamber, and optimize the use of limited cleanroom space, it is necessary to integrate the existing etch chamber with a new system. Due to proprietary hardware and software rights, only the original manufacturer of the existing DRIE system (KLA/SPTS) is technically capable of integrating the etch chamber with newer system configurations.

The process tool control software is developed by the equipment manufacturer and is specifically designed for defined system configurations; consequently, it is not transferable to equipment supplied by other manufacturers. Accordingly, no reasonable alternative or substitute solution exists, and the absence of competition is not the result of an artificial restriction of the procurement conditions.