This is a Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of qualified business sources. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible.

NOTE: This notice is strictly for obtaining Market Research. There will be no Question & Answer period under this Sources Sought Notice.

General system requirements:

The cryostat will be in the form of a vacuum chamber that will mount on the user's optical table. Inside the vacuum chamber will be a tapped optical breadboard, with a diameter of at least 5". The vertical space available to the user should be at least 4".

The system must be capable of maintaining a base temperature of approximately 4.5 K or below with a heat load of 75 mW.

The vacuum level should be below 4 x 10-7 Torr in the sample volume.

Optical access to the experimental region should be provided by at least two viewports, allowing laser light to enter and exit. Electrical access to the experimental region should be provided by at least two flanges.

Tolerable vibration level: Acceleration level measured on the sample platform in vacuum with the cryocooler on: Below 10-4 ms-2/Hz½ (10-5 g/Hz½ ) in the frequency range 0.5 Hz - 20 kHz.

Greater experimental volume, greater tolerable heat load, lower vibration level, and convenience of use are all desirable. It is recognized that there will be tradeoffs involved in the design of such a system. It is the purpose of this sources sought notice to determine the capability to manufacture such a system.

Additionally, NIST is searching for systems that are capable of operating usefully in a transient regime, in which the cryocooler is shut off. It is anticipated that the temperature and pressure will rise, but with appropriate design the temperature and pressure may remain low enough that the system could function usefully in a transient mode. Various technologies could be used for this purpose, including a heat switch or a volume of liquid helium that is condensed from a cylinder and maintains the sample temperature for the time it takes to boil off and be recaptured.

After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed and specifications are developed for the instruments that can meet NIST's minimum requirements, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a Purchase Order. If at least two qualified small businesses are identified during this market research stage, then any competitive procurement that resulted would be conducted as a small business set-aside.

NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large, foreign, and small businesses. Small businesses are defined under the associated NAICS code for this effort, 334516, as those domestic sources having 1000 employees or less.

Please include your company's size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice.

Companies that manufacture Cryostats with the above capabilities are requested to email a detailed report describing their abilities to [email protected] no later than the response date for this sources sought notice.

The report should include achievable specifications and any other information relevant to your product or capabilities.

Also, the following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice:

1. Name of the company that manufactures the system components for which specifications are provided.

2. Name of company(s) that are authorized to sell the system components, their addresses, and a point of contact for the company (name, phone number, fax number and email address).

3. Indication of number of days, after receipt of order that is typical for delivery of such systems.

4. Indication of whether each instrument for which specifications are sent to [email protected] are currently on one or more GSA Federal Supply Schedule contracts and, if so, the GSA FSS contract number(s).

5. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in developing its minimum specifications and finalizing its market research.

6. Manufacturers are requested to describe their ability to provide a system meeting these requirements, including as much information as possible concerning temperature, permissible heat load, experimental volume, vibration levels, and available options.

Point of Contact

Lynda Horton Contracting Officer, Phone (301) 975-3725, Fax (301) 975-8753, Email [email protected]