Active Damped Optical Table with Rigid Supports - NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE

Notice of Intent to Noncompetitively acquire active damped optical table with rigid supports. 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) is constructing a custom Time Domain Thermoreflectance (TDTR) instrument that will incorporate lasers and multiple optical components that must be assembled and aligned on a flat and vibration damped optical table to reduce measurement noise. In TDTR, a modulated ultrafast laser “pump” pulse heats the sample and a delayed pulsed “probe” beam interrogates the thermal properties of thin film or multilayered materials as a function of the probe delay time.

The TDTR instrument will enable NIST to measure the in situ thermal properties of thin film and multilayer materials in wide bandgap power electronics materials, packaging materials, and integrated chip components, directly supporting our CHIPS Project: Thermoreflectance Thermal Property Measurements. This CHIPS project supports Grand Challenge 4: Modeling and Simulating Semiconductor Materials, Designs, and Components.

NIST requires an Active Damped Optical Table with Rigid Supports that is capable of providing both passive and active vibration damping. NIST conducted market research in March 2024 to May 2024 to determine what sources could potentially meet NIST’s minimum requirements. This included searches on GSA, Thomas Register, System for Award Management (SAM); surveying vendor websites; speaking with subject matter experts at NIST; and issuance of two Sources Sought Notices on SAM.gov.

Market research identified several manufacturers of passive damped optical tables, but only identified one that provides both passive and active vibration damping capabilities that will enable and enhance our TDTR. The results of market research revealed that only Newport Corporation (UEI: ZKNDMHM8D6R3) appears to be capable of meeting NIST’s minimum 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.