Picosecond Laser

Request for Information/Sources Sought Notice for Providers/Suppliers of a Picosecond Laser Notice ID: NB676020-26-01971 Contract Opportunity Type Sources Sought Response Date 7/16/2026 Product Service Code 6625—Electrical and Electronic Properties Measuring and Testing Instruments NAICS Code 334516–Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing BACKGROUND This is a notice to request information from industry to help the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) determine the availability and capability of small businesses and other than small businesses to provide Picosecond Laser to NIST Gaithersburg site. This notice is strictly to request information for market research purposes to help NIST determine the appropriate acquisition strategy for this requirement. This notice shall not be construed as a solicitation, an obligation, or commitment by the NIST. OVERVIEW The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) require a picosecond pulsed laser that can be synchronized with quantum network clocks. Such a laser is critical for generating entangled photon pairs and enabling entanglement swapping between network nodes. This compact laser will serve as the pump for a nonlinear crystal, facilitating spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) to generate entangled photons. See attached draft Requirements/Specifications document. ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE NIST anticipates that delivery, installation, and training will occur within 12 weeks after receipt of the order. INFORMATION REQUESTED FROM INDUSTRY SOURCES: NIST invites industry sources to review this notice carefully and to familiarize themselves with the draft requirements/specifications document. Thereafter, by the closing date of this notice, NIST encourages those sources to submit responses to lia.arthofer@nist.gov . Do not include proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information in a response to this notice. Responses should be submitted to contain the following, in Microsoft Word format or in .pdf format, use 12-point font, with a page limitation of ten pages (excluding cover page and excluding standard commercial pricing information): Cover page, including: Sources Sought Notice number, title, and date of issuance Unique Entity ID Company name Company address Company website address Company points of contact and their phone number and email address Validation of company size status under NAICS: 334516 – Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing. See table of business size standards at https://www.sba.gov/document/support-table-size-standards for more information. Indicate whether your company has an active registration for procurement purposes in sam.gov. Provide any suggestions for NIST to consider for the draft requirements/specifications document, with the goal of improving the draft requirements/specifications document in a way that makes it clearer and as competitive as possible. Provide any suggested evaluation factors for award that your company believes would be meaningful for NIST to consider using for the forthcoming competitive acquisition. If your company has standard commercial pricing information (e.g., “catalog pricing”) for its standard commercial products/services, please provide a copy of it and explain what it includes. NIST will consider standard commercial pricing information to help it estimate a fair market price for the upcoming acquisition. Your company may also provide an estimate for the draft requirements/specifications if you would like to do so; however, do not include a proposal for the draft requirements/specifications; a proposal submitted in response to this notice will not be considered. If your company is a small business for the NAICS code included in this notice, indicate whether your company can comply with FAR clause 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting (OCT 2022), if this acquisition were to be conducted as a total small business set-aside and p...