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Notice of Intent to Noncompetitively Acquire an Optical Parametric Oscillator (OPO) laser system.

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). The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334516 – Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing, with a small business size standard of 1,000 employees.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to procure a pulsed Optical Parametric Oscillator (OPO) laser system with a repetition rate of 1 kHz, with a near-gapless, continuous tuning of laser wavelengths through the range of at least 210 nm to 2600 nm. The pulse rate of 1 kHz is desired to minimize the pulse energy while retaining a high average power. NIST intends to use this OPO laser system for several projects as:

• A tunable laser source for a prism coupler refractometer system, intended for characterization of the index properties of materials in photonic integrated circuit structures, at continuous wavelengths ranging from near 210 nm to near 2600 nm.

• The source for a Spectroradiometer Calibration Facility.

• A laser source for germicidal UV measurements in the UVB and UVA range.

NIST conducted market research from August 2022 to April 2023 to determine what sources could meet NIST’s minimum requirements. This included surveying vendors through web searches, surveying existing NIST instruments, and consulting colleagues with relevant experience inside and outside of NIST. Additionally, a Sources Sought Notice ID AMD-SS23-IE for various scientific equipment to include an OPO laser system was issued on January 20, 2023 and closed February 13, 2023 with no responses for an OPO laser system. The results of market research revealed that only Ekspla-USA, Inc., 201 South Wallace Ave, Suite B-2C Bozeman, MT 59715, (UEI: LNGLDHU8LMU1) appears to be capable of meeting NIST’s requirements.

However, any sources that believe they are capable of meeting NIST’s minimum requirements are encouraged to respond to this notice by the response date to provide the following information at a minimum: Company Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number in https://sam.gov; details about what your company is capable of providing that meets or exceeds NIST’s minimum requirements; whether your company is an authorized reseller of the product or service being cited and evidence of such authorization; and any other information that can help NIST determine whether this requirement may be competitively satisfied.

A determination by the Government not to compete the proposed acquisition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Only responses received by the offers due date and time of this notice will be considered by the government. Responses shall be submitted via email to nina.lin@nist.gov and/or tracy.retterer@nist.gov.

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