Upgrade of the Cold Neutron Imaging Instrument, Phase Grating Roll Alignment System

***THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE***

BACKGROUND

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing three high precision rotation stages (resolution better than 0.00005 degrees) with a clear aperture to allow the beam to pass unattenuated and required cabling, control hardware, and control software under the authority of FAR 12. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334516 Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing. 

The NIST neutron imaging team, in the Radiation Physics Division of the Physical Measurement Laboratory, is developing a far-field grating neutron interferometer to measure the projection of the pair correlation function, G(Z), of a sample of interest.  This interferometer geometry requires precision alignment of 3 gratings about the roll direction of the neutron beam.  Since G(Z) is a vector quantity, aligned perpendicular to the grating direction, the grating alignment stages need to be able to rotate a full 360°, with high resolution.  The gratings are lines etched into silicon wafers, where the period of the lines is of order 1 micrometer and the wafers are 100 mm in diameter.  The mass of a grating, including a holder is of order 100 g.  The interferometer pattern is measured by translating one of the gratings, so that that mass of the alignment system must be kept to as low as achievable.  For control hardware, the separation of two of the gratings along the beam ranges from 1 mm to 300 mm.  The third grating is separated by up to 5 m.

Specifications for three high precision rotation stages (resolution better than 0.00005 degrees) with a clear aperture to allow the beam to pass unattenuated and required cabling, control hardware, and control software.

• The rotation stage shall have an angular position resolution less than 0.00001 degrees (lower is better).
• The rotation stage shall have a central clear aperture at least 80 mm in diameter (larger is better).
• The rotation stage shall have a mass less than 1 kg (less is better).
• The rotation stage shall be able to rotate a full 360 degrees (continuous rotation is better).
• The rotation stage shall have a minimum rotation speed of greater than 3 degrees per second
• The rotation stage shall maintain resolution when mounted and operated such that the rotation axis is perpendicular to the vertical direction (perpendicular to gravity) and supporting a mass of 150 g (supporting a larger mass is better).
• The rotation stage movement mechanism shall have 0 backlash and maintain position in the event of unplanned loss of electrical power.
• Vendor to provide all required sensors and control hardware and software to achieve the specified minimum resolution in Task 1 such that two rotation will separated at a maximum of 0.3 m and the third rotation stage will be 5 m from the other 2 stages.
• Vendor to provide cables with lengths of 10 meters to allow the control box to be located outside a radiation area.

Optional Requirement: Hand control unit with cable to permit manual operation of the rotation stages during initial alignment performed with visible light.

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE

In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. Please include only the following information, readable in either Microsoft Word 365, Microsoft Excel 365, or .pdf format, in the response:  Submit the response by email to the Primary Point of Contact and, if specified, to the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice.  Please note that to be considered for award under any official solicitation, the entity must be registered and “active” in SAM at the time of solicitation response.

• Provide the complete name of your company, address, name of contact for follow-up questions, their email, their phone number and, if your company has an active registration in https://sam.gov, your company’s Unique Entity ID (UEI).

• Identify the equipment that your company sells that can meet the objectives addressed in the BACKGROUND section of this notice.  For each product recommended to meet the Government’s requirement, provide the following:
  • Manufacturer name
  • Model number
  • Technical specifications
  • Country of Manufacturing
  • If your company is not the manufacturer, provide information on your company’s status as an authorized reseller of the product(s)

• Describe performance capabilities of the product(s) your company recommends to meet the Government’s requirements.  Additionally, if there are other features or functions that you believe would assist NIST in meeting its objectives described above, please discuss in your response.
  • Discuss whether the equipment that your company sells and which you describe in your response to this notice may be customized to specifications and indicate any limits to customization.

• Identify any aspects of the NIST market research notice, including instructions, and draft minimum specifications in the BACKGROUND section you cannot meet and state why.  Please offer suggestions for how the market research notice and draft minimum specifications could be made more competitive.

• State whether the proposed equipment is manufactured in the United States and, if not, state the name of the country where the equipment is manufactured.

• Identify any plans/possibilities for changes in manufacturing location of the aforementioned equipment and provide relevant details, including timeline.

• For the NAICS code listed in this notice:

• • Indicate whether your company is (a) a small business or (b) other than small business.  See the Table of Small Business Size Standards and the associated .pdf download file for small business size standards and additional information.

• • If you believe the NAICS code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of product addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS code that you believe would be more appropriate for the planned procurement. 

• Describe services that are available with the purchase of the aforementioned equipment from your company such as installation, training, and equipment maintenance.

• Describe standard terms and conditions of sale offered by your company for the recommended equipment such as: delivery time after your company accepts the order; FOB shipping terms; manufacturer warranty (including details regarding nature and duration); if available, description(s) of available extended warranty; equipment setup and test; operator and service instruction manual(s); cleanup after installation; and if applicable, other offered services.  Provide a copy of manufacturer standard terms and conditions that typically relate to the sale of the specified equipment, if available.

• State whether your company offers facility renovation services related to installation of the recommended equipment at its delivery destination, if required per the NIST-identified minimum specifications, and provide description of said services.  Indicate if your company performs the facility renovation services or typically subcontracts the work to another company.  Indicate if your company would be interested in inspecting the intended installation site during the market research phase.

• State published price, discount, or rebate arrangements for recommended equipment and/or provide link to access company’s published prices for equipment and services. 

• If the recommended equipment and related services are available for purchase on any existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts against which NIST may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.

• Identify any customers in the public or private sectors to which you provided the recommended or similar equipment.  Include customer(s) information: company name, phone number, point of contact, email address.

• Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for NIST to know as part of its market research for this requirement.

• State if you require NIST to provide additional information to improve your understanding of the government’s requirement and/or would like to meet with NIST representatives to discuss the requirement and the capabilities of the identified equipment.

QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE

Questions regarding this notice may be submitted via email to the Primary Point of Contact and the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice. Questions should be submitted so that they are received 5 days prior to the response date. If the Contracting Officer determines that providing a written amendment to this notice to document question(s) received would benefit other potential respondents, the questions would be anonymized, and a written response to such question(s) would be provided via an amendment to this notice.

IMPORTANT NOTES

This notice is for market research purposes and should not be construed as a commitment by NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract.  There is no solicitation available at this time.

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.

NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate.

Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

After a review of the responses received, a synopsis and solicitation may be published on GSA’s eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered an adequate response to any such solicitation(s).

The responses shall not exceed [4] pages including all attachments, charts, etc.

Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request!