Visible range continuous wave tunable laser– 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 Hubner Photonics Inc., 2635 North First Street #225, San Jose, CA 95134 (UEI: CPSNG6JWKZP6) under the authority of FAR 12.102(b) The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334516. 

NIST has a need for a visible range continuous wave tunable laser that meets or exceeds the following draft minimum specifications:

One (1) field programmable gate array (FPGA) based high speed multichannel lock-in servo system that meets the following requirements:
 

1. The system must supply continuous wave laser wavelengths with at least 200 milliwatts (mW) power output at all wavelengths and gap-free tunability from 450-525 nanometers (nm) and 540-650 nm to address low densities of various energetically deep trap or color center states.
2. The system must also supply gap-free tunable output from 900-1050 nm and 1080-1300 nm.
3. The system laser output must not require manual intervention for re-tuning; i.e. does not require realignment during changing wavelengths.
4. The system must exist in a single platform with one pump laser and tuning capability within one system to ensure proper alignment to the experiment during wavelength scanning.
5. To avoid consumable toxic liquids, the system should not require laser dyes.
6. The system must supply the following laser beam quality.
   1. laser linewidths < 1 MHz
   2. polarization ratios greater than 100 to 1
   3. Intensity stability with < 5% noise
7. The software control of the system must allow users to view the alignment optimization process including but not limited to temperature scans of the crystals.
8. The software control must be compatible with Python programming (ie by providing Python bindings or library)
9. All electrical facilities requirements are 60Hz and based on 120 volts.
10. Frequency stabilization and wavelength accuracy system, with a resolution of 100 MHz or better.

NIST conducted market research from July 2025 to April 2026 by 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 Hubner Photonics Inc. (UEI: CPSNG6JWKZP6) 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 so that they are received 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!