Opportunity: Electron Microprobe Mangement Software Suite

The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) is conducting market research to determine the availability of qualified businesses capable of providing a third-party electron microprobe management software suite as described in the attached Salient Characteristics. This sources sought announcement is not a request for quote or proposal and the Government is not committed to award of a purchase order or contract pursuant to this announcement. The information resulting from this market research is simply for planning purposes to assist the Government in determining its acquisition strategy. The Government will not pay for any costs incurred in the preparation of information for responding to this notice. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 511210, Software Publishers and associated size standard $38.5M revenue apply to this announcement. All responsible sources may submit a brochure and/or technical specifications detailing the ability of their product to meet the Salient Characteristics included in this announcement. Responses to this announcement shall only be accepted through electronic mail addressed to dallan-loucks@usgs.gov and must be uploaded and received in their entirety no later than 15 August 2019/ 1700ET. Responses submitted by hardcopy or the FedConnect web portal or the FedConnect Message Center shall not be accepted or considered. Salient Characteristics: We are purchasing a new electron microprobe which will be used for high spatial resolution, quantitative chemical analysis of geologic materials. The new probe will require the installation of a third-party electron microprobe management software suite that fully integrates the electron microprobe with add-on detectors supplied by third-party vendors, (e.g. energy dispersive spectrometers (EDS), cathodoluminescence (CL)). The software will be installed on the new computer running the new electron microprobe. Off-line versions of the software will be installed on user computers as needed. The third-party electron microprobe management software suite shall be able to: 1. Fully integrate with selected probe without modifying probe vendor-supplied software package. 2. Automatically save all conditions throughout an analytical session. These include, but are not limited to: a. raw data, b. instrument conditions, c. all correction factors, d. Pulse height analysis (PHA) values, e. Peak and background locations. 3. Provide data in format suitable for input into relational databases. 4. Provide data in geologically relevant format. 5. Provide unlimited site licenses for off-line processing. 6. Provide automatic upgrades for future iterations of the software. 7. Provide state-of-the-art background corrections including: a. Background modelling based on the average atomic number of the analyzed material b. Shared backgrounds corrections c. Multi-point background corrections d. Non-linear background fitting 8. Correct for the mobility of beam-sensitive elements (e.g. Na) 9. Automatically collect EDS spectral data during quantitative analysis with wavelength dispersive spectrometers (WDS). Fully integrate the datasets for combined quantitative analysis. 10. Provide blank correction for analysis of low concentration elements (e.g. trace elements) 11. Provide multiple ways to collect standard data including, but not limited to: a. Complete - acquisition of all elements in all standards b. Rapid - acquisition of assigned elements in standards In addition to the above specifications the add-ons for the software shall include: 1. Quantitative x-ray mapping capabilities, including background, matrix and interference corrections. 2. Ability to combine multiple images to produce a larger-scale mosaic for quantification purposes. 3. Allow users to import scanned images for navigation purposes during the analytical session.