WAVELENGTH METER

The purpose of this sources sought notice is to conduct market research and identify potential sources of commercial products/services that satisfy the Government’s anticipated needs.

BACKGROUND

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Fundamental Thermodynamics group at the Sensor Science Division is conducting Standard Photonic Thermometer (SPoT) project. The main focus of the project is to develop the next-generation chip-scale photonic temperature metrology that can replace Standard Platinum Resistance Thermometers (SPRTs), reduce the temperature calibration chain and sensor ownership cost.

The SPoT project, pursued by The Fundamental Thermodynamics group, is a multi-year/multi-million effort funded by both NIST-on-a-Chip (NOAC) and Air Force. The timely achieving project’s milestones is NIST-mission-critical task and is one of the priorities of the Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML).

One of the essential milestones of Standard Photonic Thermometer is to develop both high-resolution photonic readout capabilities, as well as cost-efficient and deployable photonic readout systems. To achieve these essential for the project milestones, the Fundamental Thermodynamics group has a critical need for one (1) high-resolution and one (1) low-resolution wavelength meters. The high-resolution wavemeter should come with 4-channel optical switch and 4-channel PID controller. Both instruments must be from the same manufacture to ensure software compatibility. The instruments are essential for achieving the precision and stability necessary in next-generation temperature metrology

NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a solution that will achieve the objectives described above, in addition to the following essential requirements: The Contractor shall provide the following one (1) wavelength meter in the near infrared (NIR) frequency range that meets the following minimum specifications:
 

High-resolution wavemeter

1. The wavelength meter that operates over a range of at least 630 nm to 1700 nm.
2. The system shall pre-aligned 9/125 μm single-mode fiber with FC/APC optical fiber input connector.
3. Input laser type: CW and pulsed
4. Minimal input optical power: 50 nJ, or less
5. Maximum input optical power: 10 mW (CW) / 0.5 mJ (pulse), or more
6. Input laser light maximum bandwidth (FWHM) shall be 1 GHz or larger.
7. Wavelength measurement accuracy ±0.2 part per million (ppm) fractional wavelength error over the entire operating range;  ±60 MHz at 1000 nm, or better. The wavelength meter must reach this accuracy with a warm up period of less than 15 min.
8. The wavelength resolution 0.001 ppm or better, 300 kHz @ 300 THz
9. The wavemeter stability/repeatability over 1 minute shall be better than 3 MHz.

      10. The measurement rate of the wavelength meter shall be at least 1 kHz or faster.

      11. The wavemeter shall have a built-in PID controller and an automatic internal calibration locked to a known stable frequency.

      12. The wavemeter shall come with additional 4-channel optical switch and 4-channel PID controller.

      13. The wavelength meter must be able to be controlled through Windows 11 operating system through USB and Ethernet.

      14. The software, Labview drivers, and Python scripts, necessary to operate the wavemeter must be included. The software               must be compatible with the low-resolution wavemeter.
 

Low- resolution wavemeter
 

1. The wavelength meter that operates over a range of at least 1270 nm to 1680 nm.
2. The system shall pre-aligned 9/125 μm single-mode fiber with FC/APC optical fiber input connector.
3. Input laser type: CW
4. Maximum input optical power: + 10 dBm (displayed level), + 18 dBm (safe level), or larger
5. Input laser light maximum bandwidth (FWHM) shall be 10 GHz or larger.
6. Wavelength measurement accuracy ±0.2 part per million (ppm) fractional wavelength error over the entire operating range;  ±0.3 pm at 1550 nm, or better. The wavelength meter must reach this accuracy with a warm up period of less than 15 min.
7. The wavelength display resolution 0.01 ppm or better
8. The wavemeter stability/repeatability ±0.03 ppm ((±0.5 pm at 1550 nm) or better.
9. The wavemeter sensitivity should be -30 dBm or better.
10. The measurement rate of the wavelength meter shall be at least 25 Hz or faster.
11. The wavelength meter must be able to be controlled through Windows 11 operating system through USB and Ethernet.\
12. The software, Labview drivers, and Python scripts, necessary to operate the wavemeter must be included. The software must be compatible with the high-resolution wavemeter.

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE

In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. Please include only the following information, readable in either Microsoft Word 365, Microsoft Excel 365, or .pdf format, in the response:  Submit the response by email to the Primary Point of Contact and, if specified, to the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice.  Please note that to be considered for award under any official solicitation, the entity must be registered and “active” in SAM at the time of solicitation response.

• 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).

• Identify the equipment that your company sells that can meet the objectives addressed in the BACKGROUND section of this notice.  For each product recommended to meet the Government’s requirement, provide the following:
  • Manufacturer name
  • Model number
  • Technical specifications
  • If your company is not the manufacturer, provide information on your company’s status as an authorized reseller of the product(s)

• Describe performance capabilities of the product(s) your company recommends to meet the Government’s requirements.  Additionally, if there are other features or functions that you believe would assist NIST in meeting its objectives described above, please discuss in your response.
  • Discuss whether the equipment that your company sells and which you describe in your response to this notice may be customized to specifications and indicate any limits to customization.

• Identify any aspects of the NIST market research notice, including instructions, and draft minimum specifications in the BACKGROUND section you cannot meet and state why.  Please offer suggestions for how the market research notice and draft minimum specifications could be made more competitive.

• State whether the proposed equipment is manufactured in the United States and, if not, state the name of the country where the equipment is manufactured.

• Identify any plans/possibilities for changes in manufacturing location of the aforementioned equipment and provide relevant details, including timeline.

• For the NAICS code listed in this notice:

• 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.

• 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. 

• Describe services that are available with the purchase of the aforementioned equipment from your company such as installation, training, and equipment maintenance.

• Describe standard terms and conditions of sale offered by your company for the recommended equipment such as: delivery time after your company accepts the order; FOB shipping terms; manufacturer warranty (including details regarding nature and duration); if available, description(s) of available extended warranty; equipment setup and test; operator and service instruction manual(s); cleanup after installation; and if applicable, other offered services.  Provide a copy of manufacturer standard terms and conditions that typically relate to the sale of the specified equipment, if available.

• State whether your company offers facility renovation services related to installation of the recommended equipment at its delivery destination, if required per the NIST-identified minimum specifications, and provide description of said services.  Indicate if your company performs the facility renovation services or typically subcontracts the work to another company.  Indicate if your company would be interested in inspecting the intended installation site during the market research phase.

• State published price, discount, or rebate arrangements for recommended equipment and/or provide link to access company’s published prices for equipment and services. 

• If the recommended equipment and related services are available for purchase on any existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts against which NIST may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.

• Identify any customers in the public or private sectors to which you provided the recommended or similar equipment.  Include customer(s) information: company name, phone number, point of contact, email address.

• Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for NIST to know as part of its market research for this requirement.

• State if you require NIST to provide additional information to improve your understanding of the government’s requirement and/or would like to meet with NIST representatives to discuss the requirement and the capabilities of the identified equipment.

QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE

Questions regarding this notice may be submitted via email to the Primary Point of Contact and the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice. Questions should be submitted so that they are received 5 days prior to the response date. If the Contracting Officer determines that providing a written amendment to this notice to document question(s) received would benefit other potential respondents, the questions would be anonymized, and a written response to such question(s) would be provided via an amendment to this notice.

IMPORTANT NOTES

This notice is for market research purposes and should not be construed as a commitment by NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract.  There is no solicitation available at this time.

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.

NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate.

Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

After a review of the responses received, a synopsis and solicitation may be published on GSA’s eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered an adequate response to any such solicitation(s).

Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request!