UV Frequency Doublers

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking market information for the procurement of two UV optical frequency doubling systems, solicitation number NB688000-26-02423, issued as a sources-sought notice to assess industry capability before issuing a formal solicitation. Each system must convert 535.6 nm laser light to 267.8 nm output with a minimum power of 15 mW using a hermetically sealed cavity, capable of purging with clean dry air and maintaining temperature stability within 0.5°C. The systems must operate continuously for over six months without realignment, feature a digital servo with a lock bandwidth exceeding 20 kHz and 1 ms recovery time, and include two spare nonlinear crystals as drop-in replacements. The contract requires direct delivery to NIST’s facility in Boulder, Colorado, with installation, on-site training, and operational support provided by vendor personnel, who must be U.S. citizens unless preregistered 30 days in advance. The delivery window is 16 to 18 weeks after order receipt, and all equipment must be manufactured in a disclosed country to evaluate compliance with the Buy American Act and potential small business set-aside eligibility under NAICS code 334516. While this notice is not a solicitation and does not include contract clauses, evaluation factors, pricing, or formal award criteria, it serves as a preliminary step to gather responses from potential vendors with detailed technical capability statements limited to four pages. Responses must be submitted electronically by August 2, 2026, to Lisa Stevens at NIST’s Acquisition Management Division in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The government has not yet determined the basis of award, contract type, or funding mechanism, and no payment, accounting, or inspection standards are formally defined at this stage—acceptance criteria will rely solely on the performance parameters listed in the technical specifications. The presence of an optional digital servo for dual-system coordination, environmental purge functionality, and strict access controls for foreign nationals indicates a high-precision, secure research environment with operational continuity and export control considerations. Any future formal solicitation will build upon these requirements and may include formal FAR clauses, evaluation weighting, and contractual deliverables.