Vacuum Compatible stages – Combined Sources Sought/Notice of Intent to Sole Source

***THIS IS A COMBINED SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE AND NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE***

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a high speed, Lock-in/Servo system. If no alternate sources are identified, the Government intends to issue a Sole Source Award to AIM Concepts, 5489 S Iris St Littleton, CO 80123 under the authority of FAR 12.102(a) The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334516. 

NIST has a need for a Vacuum Compatible stages that meets or exceeds the following draft minimum specifications:

1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Radiation Physics Division of the Physical Measurement Laboratory requires new vacuum-compatible stages for the pending guide installation at the NG6-U and NG6-A neutron beamlines. This acquisition is critical because the new, advanced supermirror guide mandates a vacuum environment. Neutron beamlines require remote manipulation of a monochromator crystal.  At a minimum the crystal must be rotated and tilted along one axis.  The existing stages supporting NG6 monochromators are not vacuum-compatible, which necessitates their replacement. The NG6-U beamline is a dedicated metrology station for measuring small forces and fundamental physical constants while the NG6-A beamline will be used to develop and test new detector technologies and determine the accuracy of the detector prototypes which may assist in the detection of water in our solar system.

Line Item 0001:

Description:  Motor Driven Rotation Stage for use in a Vacuum System

Quantity:  2

1. Technical Specifications
   
   1. The 2 Rotation stages must be identical
   2. The stages must be rated to work at pressures of 1x10-6 Torr or lower
   3. The bulk (or body) of the stage must be made of an aluminum alloy (specifically not a Copper alloy) or a material with comparable or less neutron activation to aluminum.
   4. Full Step Resolution of 0.01 degrees or less
   5. Range of Motion equal or greater than 200 degrees.
   6. The stage must be driven by an included vacuum compatible, double-shafted, 2-phase stepper motor.  The motor must be installed on the stage by the vendor prior to delivery
   7. The load capacity of the stage must be greater than weight of the accompanying  tilt stage (Line Item 0002) plus an additional 2 kg

Line Item 0002: 

Description:  Motor Driven Tilt Stage for use in a Vacuum System

Quantity: 2

1. Technical Specifications
   
   1. The 2 stages must be identical
   2. The stages must be rated to work at pressures of 1x10-6 Torr or lower
   3. The bulk (or body) of the stage must be made of an aluminum alloy (specifically not a copper alloy) or a material with comparable or less neutron activation to aluminum.
   4. The stage must be driven by an included vacuum compatible, double-shafted, 2-phase stepper motor.  The motor must be installed on the stage by the vendor prior to delivery
   5. The Range of Motion must be 7.5 degrees or greater
   6. Working Distance (aka the distance from the top of the tilt stage to its center of rotation) must be 65 mm or greater
   7. Mate directly above or with a vendor provided adaptor to the rotation stage on line item 0001.
   8. Total height from the bottom of the rotation stage (line item 0001) to the Working Distance of the tilt stage must be 10 inches or less.
   9. The rotation and tilt stage assembly (Combined lines 0001 and 0002) must fit entirely within a circle centered on the axis of rotation of the rotation stage (line item 0001) with a diameter of 14.5 inches.

Line Item 0003

Description:  Vacuum Compatible Cables

Quantity: 4

1. Vacuum compatible cable or wiring
2. One end of the fittings adapted to motors of the previous line items (0001 and 0002)
3. One end of the cable either DB9 or DB25 standard  connector
4. Cable length 12 inches or greater

Line Item 0004: 

Description:  Non-Vacuum Cables

Quantity: 4

1. Non-Vacuum Cable 
2. One end of the cable matching  either the DB9 or the DB25 standard connector of the above line item 0003
3. Cable length 9 meters or greater

NIST conducted market research from 2020 to 2023 by attending conferences, speaking with colleagues, performing internet searches, and speaking with vendors to determine what sources could meet NIST’s minimum requirements.  The results of that market research revealed that only AIM Concepts (UEI: KK6LBMT3FPD7) appears to be capable of meeting NIST’s requirements.

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 at the bottom of this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice.

• 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).
• 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.
• Identify any aspects of the description of the requirements in the BACKGROUND section above that could be viewed as unduly restrictive or create unnecessary barriers that adversely affect your firm’s ability to fully participate in a procurement for such services and explain why.  Please offer suggestions for how the requirements could be organized or structured to encourage the participation of small businesses.
• For the NAICS code
• 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. 
• If your firm has existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts for products or services against which the Department may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.
• Describe your firm’s experience (as a prime, subcontractor, or consultant) providing the products or services described in Background section.
• Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for the Government to know as part of its market research for this requirement.
• Please let us know if you would like to engage to get a better understanding of the requirement or need additional information about the Government’s requirement for the products or services described in the Background section. 

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 within 5 days of the initial posting.  Questions will be anonymized and answered via sources sought notice amendment following the question submission deadline.

IMPORTANT NOTES

The information received in response to this notice will be reviewed and considered so that the NIST may appropriately solicit for its requirements in the near future. 

This notice should not be construed as a commitment by the NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. 

This notice is not a request for a quotation. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotations.

No award will be made as a result of this notice. 

NIST is not responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice.

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

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