1320 nm Entangled Photon Source

NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE Contracting Opportunities Announcement Type:

Special Notice Announcement Number:

AMDTCNOI2400929 Title: 1320 nm Entangled Photon Source Introduction This is a notice of intent, not a request for a quotation. A solicitation document will not be issued, and quotations will not be requested. Purpose The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate a firm-fixed priced purchase order on a sole source basis with S-Fifteen Instruments, PTE, LTD., located at 79 Ayer Rajah Crescent, #01-02, Singapore.

The purchase order will specifically procure quantity one (1) 1320 nm Entangled Photon Source. Delivery of all items shall occur not later than four (4) weeks after receipt of an order. Authority This acquisition is being conducted under the authority of FAR Subpart 13.106(b)(1) allowing the Contracting Officer (CO) to solicit from one source.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334515 – Instrument Manufacturing for Measuring and Testing Electricity and Electrical Signals, with the small business size standard of 750 Employees.

Description The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)/Computing and Communications Theory (CCT) group applies expertise in mathematical subdisciplines such as combinatorics, graph theory, network science, operations research, optimization, discrete nonlinear dynamics, computational geometry, quantum mechanics, and information theory. The CCT group seeks to obtain one (1) Entangled Photon Source (EPS) that emits entangled photon pairs in the telecom O-band.

The EPS will assist NIST in achieving the goal of developing a measurement and testbed infrastructure to test and validate the performance of optical quantum components on the NIST Gaithersburg campus. NIST currently has existing entangled photon sources for the telecom C-band around 1550 nm. In order to test and verify entanglement distribution also in the important telecom O-band, NIST requires the purchase of such a source with photons being created in the O-band.

Acquisition of the subject required EPS will allow for NIST to implement the detection and quantum state metrology required to detail the polarization performance of the links within the testbed fiber infrastructure.

The required 1320 nm EPS shall meet the following minimum technical specifications: • Photon generation centered at 1320 ± 2 nm. • The bi-photon bandwidth shall be greater than 30 nm and less than 100 nm. • Photon pair rate >500,000 pairs/s at the source. • Polarization-entanglement visibility >97%. • Photon-heralding probability >30%. • Photon Output Fibers must be single mode fibers. Sole Source Determination The sole source determination is based on the following:

The CCT group is conducting metrology research in quantum networking to distribute and characterize polarization entanglement to multiple users within the DC-QNet. CCT requires an EPS with a telecom wavelength source at 1320 nm. The bi-photon bandwidth must be large (>30 nm) in order to allow for multi-user applications on the network that can only be sourced through the subject requirement.

In order to develop the necessary metrology to enable complex quantum networks, CCT needs to be able to send entangled photons around 1320 nm through metropolitan link length fibers.

S-Fifteen is the only source that can produce the required band width source specification for this requirement and the subject EPS must be purchased directly through S-Fifteen Instruments PTE, LTD. Information for Interested Parties Interested parties that believe they could satisfy the requirements listed above for NIST may clearly and unambiguously identify their capability to do so in writing by or before the response date for this notice. This notice of intent is not a solicitation.

Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to Hunter Tjugum, Contract Specialist, at Hunter.Tjugum@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted via email to hunter.tjugum@nist.gov so that they are received no later than June 24, 2024, at 12:00 PM, Eastern Time.

Each response should include the following Business Information: a. Contractor Name, Address, b. Point of Contact Name, Phone Number, and Email address c. Contractor DUNS d. Contractor Business Classification (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, hubZone, veteran owned, etc.) as validated in System for Award Management (SAM). All offerors must have an active registration in www.SAM.gov. e. Capability Statement