CSS_18-03460.pdf

CLASSIFICATION CODE: 66 - Instruments and Laboratory Equipment

TITLE: - Optical Cryostat

SOLICITATION NUMBER: 1333ND18QNB680461

RESPONSE DATE: 08/29/2018

CONTACT POINTS: Robert Cowins, Contracting Officer, (301) 975-8335

DESCRIPTION:

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a requirement for an I Integrating Sphere to be utilized by the Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) at NIST, Gaithersburg, MD.

THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL

ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPART 12.6-

STREAMLINED PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATION AND SOLICITATION

FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS-AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY

SOLICITATION; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED, AND A SEPARATE WRITTEN

SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED. THE SOLICITATION IS BEING ISSUED

USING SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF FAR PART 13.

This solicitation is a Request for Quotations (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-99.

1352.215-72 INQUIRIES (APR 2010)

Offerors must submit all questions concerning this solicitation in writing to robert.cowins@nist.gov.

Questions should be received no later than 5 calendar days after the issuance date of this solicitation. Any responses to questions will be made in writing, without identification of the questioner, and will be included in an amendment to the solicitation. Even if provided in other form, only the question responses included in the amendment to the solicitation will govern performance of the contract.

(End of Provision)

The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 333314 - Optical Instrument and Lens Manufacturing, with a small business size standard of 500 employees.

This acquisition is 100% set-aside for small business.

All offerors shall provide a quotation for the following line items:

mailto:robert.cowins@nist.gov

CLIN 0001:

Optical Cryostat (See Statement of Work for details) Quantity: 1 Unit of Issue: EA Delivery Date: 25 weeks from the date of award Pricing Option: Firm-Fixed-Price

Statement of Work

Closed-Cycle Optical Cryostat System

Background Our group is investigating the devices physics of micro- and nanoscale mechanical resonators and nanophotonic optomechanical cavities. A cryostat is required to investigate these systems over a wide range of temperatures. The optical measurements that will be performed with the closed-cycle optical cryostat system include optical and electrical vibration measurements of radio frequency mechanical resonators and the optical interrogation of optical microcavities. A vacuum shroud that allows imaging of the cold sample with an external microscope and that has optical fiber feedthroughs and DC and RF electrical feedthroughs is required. The cryostat must be compatible with an array of available vacuum shrouds to ensure flexibility for future measurement needs. Low-temperature compatible nanopositioners are required to be placed inside the cryostat to achieve state-of-the-art performance sample positioning while maintaining high stability and low-sample drift. A cryostat directly integrated into the optical table with the cold-plate at the level of the optical table will allow for a low-temperature optical measurement setup to be directly integrated into standard optical setups. The technical specifications for the cryostat, including the shroud design and nanopositioners, have been determined based on previous experiments.

Minimum Requirements Brand Name or Equivalent: This is a brand name or equivalent requirement. Brand name or equivalent is intended to be descriptive, but not restrictive and is to indicate the quality and characteristic of products that will be considered satisfactory to meet the agency’s requirement.

The system shall meet or exceed the salient characteristics identified below. All items must be new.

Used or remanufactured equipment, will not be considered for award. Experimental, prototype, first articles, demonstration model, otherwise developmental systems or custom items will not be considered for award. The use of “gray market” components not authorized for sale in the U.S. by the proposer is not acceptable. All line items shall be shipped in the original manufacturer’s packaging and include all original documentation and software when applicable.

Technical Specifications:

1. System shall be a closed-cycle optical cryostat using a variable flow helium compressor or equivalent cooling approach. The compressor shall be water-cooled. Both the cryo-cooler and the variable flow helium compressor including any vacuum pumps shall be included in the offered system.

2. The interior sample chamber shall have a diameter of at least 75 mm. This cold space must be able to reach a temperature of 5 K or lower and be controllable between 300 K and 5 K. The height of the cold-plate shall be approximately at the level of the breadboard of the optical table that supports the cryostat. Exact dimensions of the sample chamber shall be reviewed with the end user after award of the contract but prior to beginning construction of the system.

3. The cryostat must be directly coupled to an included optical table with pneumatic vibration isolation. The optical table must have equivalent vibration isolation performance as a Newport RS4000 vibration-isolated optical table (M6 tapped holes, 25 mm grid spacing) with Newport S2000A legs. The table top should be approximately 1200 mm x 1800 mm x 305 mm (WxLxH) in size and the height of the table on its legs should be approximately 900 mm. No components of the cryostat system except the vacuum shroud containing the optical windows shall reside on top of the optical table. The helium compressor, cryo-cooler, cold head driver, electronic control unit and/or any vacuum pumps shall not sit on the optical table. The cold plate must be isolated from vibrations from the cryocooler. A cryostat directly integrated into the optical table with the cold-plate at the level of the optical table allows for a low-temperature optical measurement setup to be directly integrated into standard optical setups. No cryostat part or flex lines (except the vacuum shroud) on the optical table maximizes the usable work-area on the optical table.

4. Cryogenic stage integration: System shall come equipped with three (3) low temperature compatible motorized stages required for precise nanopositioning of the sample under test. Stage requirements shall include:

1. One (1) Attocube Systems model ANPz101/LT/RES, OR EQUIVALENT coarse positioner, providing a minimum of 5 mm of linear (out-of-plane) translation, a minimum open-loop step size of less than 15 nm, and a closed-loop sensor resolution less than 250 nm, all at 5 K. The stage shall be less than or equal to 25 mm x 25 mm x 30 mm in size.

The stage shall be compatible for integration within the cryostat and achieve base temperature of 5K at the top of the stage stack.

2. Two (2) Attocube Systems model ANPx311/LT/RES, OR EQUIVALENT coarse positioner (or equivalent), providing a minimum of 6 mm of linear (in-plane) translation, a minimum open-loop step size of less than 20 nm, and a closed-loop sensor resolution less than 250 nm, all at 5 K. The stage shall be less than or equal to 32 mm x 32 mm x 12 mm in size. The stage shall be compatible for integration within the cryostat and achieve base temperature of 5K at the top of the stage stack.

3. All stages, or combinations thereof, shall be compatible for integration within the interior sample chamber (cold space) of the cryostat. Stages for sample nanopositioning shall be capable of being mounted in one stack to achieve positioning along the X, Y, and Z axes.

4. Stages shall be completely integrated in the cryostat including

1. routing of all stage wires,

2. incorporation of electrical feedthroughs to route wires from the control electronics to the stages, and

3. any thermal braids needed to achieve base temperature of 5K at the top of the stage stack.

5. All necessary control electronics for independent control of all stages shall be included;

Attocube Systems ANC350/3/RES OR EQUIVALENT MODEL. The control electronics shall:

1. drive the stages over their full translation ranges,

2. achieve the resolution levels for all three (3) stages as listed in Specification #4-1 and #4-2 above, and

3. read out the stage positions from the encoded stages.

The controllers shall allow for either standalone manual operation; OR remote operation through computer control. Computer control shall be done through USB OR GPIB. All LabView drivers and/or other necessary software for remote operation shall be included.

5. Vibration amplitude at the sample platform shall be < 5 nm peak-to-peak in the vertical and horizontal directions.

6. Fiber optic feedthroughs into the cryostat sample chamber for two optical fibers shall be provided. Feedthroughs shall have FC/APC connectors and be designed for single mode fibers with an optical wavelength of 1550 nm.

7. Feedthroughs allowing the introduction of two high-frequency cables into the sample space with

SMA connectors shall be provided.

8. A minimum of 24 electrical connections shall be provided into the sample area. The wiring shall be heat sunk at 5 K. These free electrical connections are meant for the introduction of temperature sensors, heaters, etc., and do not include the connections needed for the low temperature stages and standard sensors and heaters. The electrical connections shall be thermally lagged into the sample space.

9. The cryostat system shall include a vacuum shroud that meets the following specifications:

a) The vacuum shroud must be designed to allow a short working distance microscope objective (minimum working distance equal to or less than 4 mm) to image the sample inside the cryostat.

b) The viewport must be located on the top surface of the shroud.

c) The top optical window shall be made of fused silica and have a thickness that enables the desired working distance.

d) The optical windows must be wedged at 1̊ angle and anti-reflection coated for the spectral range between 500 nm – 860 nm.

e) The window shall be mounted on the vacuum shroud such that they can be exchanged and are interchangeable by the end user without affecting the system performance.

f) In addition to the specified shroud, the offeror shall offer other shrouds with window configurations that allow optical access from the side of the sample stage in addition to the top window, as well as transmission measurements. These available configurations will ensure that the cryostat can be adapted to future measurement needs through additional procurements.

The proposed design of the vacuum shroud including choice of the material for the optical windows, window thickness, anti-reflection coatings and wedge options shall be submitted with the quotation.

10. Temperature fluctuations at the top of the stage stack shall be < 20 mK peak-to-peak.

11. The system shall reach 5 K at the top of stage stacks in less than 5 hours.

12. Sensors to measure the base temperature of the system (e.g., at the cold finger) and the temperature at the top of the sample positioning stack shall be provided and installed in the system. A temperature controller that enables measurements from the two sensors shall be provided.

13. Any vacuum pump(s) required in cooling the system to cryogenic temperatures shall be included.

During standard operation, the system must reach a base pressure of 1.5 x 10-5 torr or lower.

14. The helium compressor shall include > 12 meters long flex lines such that the compressor can be placed far enough away from the optical table to mitigate acoustic disturbances.

15. Cool-down and pump-out shall be fully automated and controlled via computer interface.

16. All required software for running the system shall be provided, including standalone software and/or LabView drivers. The software shall allow for temperature set-point control, temperature monitoring, and diagnostics of the vacuum pump-down and helium compressor.

Warranty

The offeror shall provide at a minimum a one (1) year warranty for the instrument and all of its components and subsystems (parts and labor), to be serviced on-site by the offeror. Equipment manufactured by sub-contractors are also required to carry the minimum one (1) year warranty period.

The warranty shall commence upon final acceptance by the Government.

Inspection/Acceptance

Inspection and acceptance will take place upon installation. In addition to the inspection and acceptance terms articulated in 52.212-4, the Government reserves the right to perform such performance tests and evaluations as defined below to verify specified system performance. Such tests and evaluations, if performed, shall be conducted within the environment that the system is to be operated. The Contractor has the right to be present during the tests and evaluations, if performed, at the Contractor’s expense.

After installed, base temperature and temperature fluctuation measurements at the top of the sample stack will be performed. This test data will be reviewed by the NIST Contracting Officer Representative (COR). Upon review, the COR will provide final acceptance of the equipment, or advise the offeror of performance weaknesses. Any required rework and re-testing shall be completed at no additional cost to the Government within a time-frame agreed upon by the COR, the Contracting Officer, and the offeror.

Payment for this requirement will be made upon completion and acceptance.

The Government anticipates acceptance/rejection of the system no later than thirty (30) days after inspection and acceptance has been completed.

Provisions and Clauses:

The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are hereby incorporated by reference.

All FAR clauses may be viewed at http://farsite.hill.af.mil/.

Provisions

52.204-7, System for Award Management 52.204-16, Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting FAR 52.204-17, Ownership or Control of Offeror (JUL 2016) FAR 52.204-17 Commercial And Government Entity Code Reporting (JUL 2016) 52.209-2 Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations – Representation 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Items 52.225-25, Prohibition on Contracting with Entities Engaging in Sanctioned Activities Relating to Iran 52.203-18 Prohibition on Contracting with Entities that Require Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements-Representation.

52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors - Commercial Items 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items

52.204-20 Predecessor of Offeror

(a) Definitions. As used in this provision– “Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code” means–

(1) An identifier assigned to entities located in the United States and its outlying areas by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Contractor and Government Entity (CAGE) Branch to identify a commercial or government entity, or

(2) An identifier assigned by a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or by NATO’s Support Agency (NSPA) to entities located outside the United States and its outlying areas that DLA Contractor and Government Entity (CAGE) Branch records and maintains in the CAGE master file.

This type of code is known as an NCAGE code.

“Predecessor” means an entity that is replaced by a successor and includes any predecessors of the predecessor.

“Successor” means an entity that has replaced a predecessor by acquiring the assets and carrying out the affairs of the predecessor under a new name (often through acquisition or merger). The term “successor” does not include new offices/divisions of the same company or a company that only changes its name. The extent of the responsibility of the successor for the liabilities of the predecessor may vary, depending on State law and specific circumstances.

(b) The Offeror represents that it □ is or □ is not a successor to a predecessor that held a Federal contract or grant within the last three years.

(c) If the Offeror has indicated “is” in paragraph (b) of this provision, enter the following information for all predecessors that held a Federal contract or grant within the last three years (if more than one predecessor, list in reverse chronological order):

Predecessor CAGE code: ________ (or mark “Unknown”) Predecessor legal name: _________________________ (Do not use a “doing business as” name)

(End of provision)

52.209-11 Representation by Corporations Regarding Delinquent Tax Liability or a Felony Conviction under any Federal Law.

(a) As required by sections 744 and 745 of Division E of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235), and similar provisions, if contained in subsequent appropriations acts, the Government will not enter into a contract with any corporation that—

(1) Has any unpaid Federal tax liability that has been assessed, for which all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted or have lapsed, and that is not being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreement with the authority responsible for collecting the tax liability, where the awarding agency is aware of the unpaid tax liability, unless an agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and made a determination that suspension or debarment is not necessary to protect the interests of the Government; or

(2) Was convicted of a felony criminal violation under any Federal law within the preceding 24 months, where the awarding agency is aware of the conviction, unless an agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and made a determination that this action is not necessary to protect the interests of the Government.

(b) The Offeror represents that—

(1) It is □ is not □ a corporation that has any unpaid Federal tax liability that has been assessed, for which all judicial and administrative remedies have been exhausted or have lapsed, and that is not being paid in a timely manner pursuant to an agreement with the authority responsible for collecting the tax liability; and

(2) It is □ is not □ a corporation that was convicted of a felony criminal violation under a Federal law within the preceding 24 months.

52.252-1 Solicitation Provisions Incorporated by Reference.

This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es):

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR): www.acquisition.gov/far/ Commerce Acquisition Regulation (CAR): http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=8b5f22b07c12a52e8b29841ad60f1fd9&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title48/48chapter13.tpl

(End of provision)

52.204-13 System for Award Management Maintenance 52.204-18, Commercial and Government Entity Code Maintenance 52.204-19, Incorporation by Reference of Representations and Certifications 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Items 52.232-39 Unenforceability of Unauthorized Obligations 52.232-40 Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Subcontractors 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders— Commercial Items (APR 2010)-- including subparagraphs:

52.204-10 - Reporting Executive Compensation and First Tier Subcontract Awards 52.219-6 - Notice of Total Small Business Set-Aside 52.219-13 - Notice of Set-Aside of Orders 52.219-28 - Post Award Small Business Program Representation 52.222-3 - Convict Labor 52.222-19 - Child Labor - Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies;

52.222-21 - Prohibition of Segregated Facilities 52-222-26 - Equal Opportunity;

52.222-36 - Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities 52.222-50 - Combating Trafficking in Persons 52.223-18 - Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving 52.225-13 - Restriction on Certain Foreign Purchases;

52.232-33 - Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer- System for Award Management.

(End of clause)

Department of Commerce Acquisition Regulation (CAR) clauses. Please view the full text of these clauses at http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=8b5f22b07c12a52e8b29841ad60f1fd9&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title48/48chapter13.tpl.

Commerce Acquisition Regulations (CAR) Provisions and Clauses:

1352.201-70 Contracting Officer’s Authority 1352.209-73 Compliance With The Laws 1352.209-74 Organizational Conflict of Interest http://www.acquisition.gov/far/ http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=8b5f22b07c12a52e8b29841ad60f1fd9&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title48/48chapter13.tpl http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=8b5f22b07c12a52e8b29841ad60f1fd9&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title48/48chapter13.tpl http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=8b5f22b07c12a52e8b29841ad60f1fd9&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title48/48chapter13.tpl http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=8b5f22b07c12a52e8b29841ad60f1fd9&mc=true&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title48/48chapter13.tpl

NIST Local Clauses

NIST LOCAL-04 BILLING INSTRUCTIONS

(a) NIST prefers electronic Invoice/Voucher submissions and they should be emailed to INVOICE@NIST.GOV. (b) Each Invoice or Voucher submitted shall include the following: (1) Contract Number. (2) Contractor Name and Address. (3) Date of Invoice. (4) Invoice Number. (5) Amount of Invoice and Cumulative Amount Invoiced to-date. (6) Contract Line Item Number (CLIN).

(7) Description, Quantity, Unit of Measure, Unit Price, and Extended Price of Supplies/Services Delivered. (8) Prompt Payment Discount Terms, if Offered. (9) Any other information or documentation required by the contract. (c) In the event electronic submissions are not used, The Contractor shall submit an original invoice or voucher in accordance with the payment provisions of this contract to: NIST: Accounts Payable Office 100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 1621 Gaithersburg, MD 20899-

NIST LOCAL-54 ELECTRONIC BILLING INSTRUCTIONS

NIST requires that Invoice/Voucher submissions are sent electronically via email to

INVOICE@NIST.GOV.

Each Invoice or Voucher submitted shall include the following:

(1) Contract number;

(2) Contractor name and address;

(3) Unique entity identifier (see www.sam.gov for the designated entity for establishing unique entity identifiers);

(4) Date of invoice;

(5) Invoice number;

(6) Amount of invoice and cumulative amount invoiced to-date;

(7) Contract Line Item Number (CLIN);

(8) Description, quantity, unit of measure, unit price, and extended price of supplies/services delivered;

(9) Prompt payment discount terms, if offered; and

(10) Any other information or documentation required by the contract.

NIST LOCAL -53 Contract Performance During Changes in NIST Operating Status Unless otherwise stated in the contract terms and conditions, normal days of business operation are Monday through Friday, excluding Federal Holidays. However, throughout the contract period of performance, there may be circumstances beyond the control of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), that will impact normal days of business operation, such as inclement weather, power outages, etc. In circumstances such as these, the Contractor must call the appropriate NIST campus status line to verify the operating status:

Gaithersburg Campus Operating Status Line:

(301) 975-8000

(800) 437-4385 x8000 (toll free)

Boulder Campus Operating Status Line:

(303) 497-4000

During a lapse in appropriation, access to Government facilities and resources, including equipment and systems, will be limited to excepted personnel for both Federal employees and Contractor personnel. If performance of the contract is onsite and/or requires Government interaction, unless you have been, or are notified that you are to work under an excepted status, you will automatically enter a temporary work stoppage. The work stoppage shall remain in effect until the lapse is resolved and notification is provided via the NIST website at https://www.nist.gov/ and/or the NIST operating status lines. Additionally, Contractors are encouraged to monitor public broadcasts or the Office of Personnel Management’s website at www.opm.gov for the Federal Government operating status.

NIST will provide notification to all contractors that are determined to have excepted status. All excepted contractors are required to continue performance and communicate with the appointed Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) for further guidance, or NIST Contracting Officer if a COR is not appointed.

Contractors with supply or service contracts that are fully funded at the time of contract award and do not require access to Government facilities, resources, or active administration by Government personnel in a manner that would cause the government to incur additional obligations during the lapse in appropriation may continue performance.

INSTRUCTIONS:

System for Award Management (SAM)

In accordance with FAR 52.204-7, the awardee must be registered in SAM (www.sam.gov) prior to award. Refusal to register shall forfeit award.

Required Information

The government will not consider any quotation without the information required by this solicitation.

Due Date for Quotations

Offerors shall submit their quotations so that NIST receives them not later than 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, 08/29/2018. FAX and hard-copy quotations shall not be accepted. E-mail quotations shall be accepted at robert.cowins@nist.gov. Offerors’ quotations shall not be deemed received by the Government until the quotation is entered the e-mail address inbox set forth above.

Late quotes will not be accepted.

Addendum to FAR 52.212-1, Quotation Preparation Instructions

1) Price Quotation: The pricing quotation shall be separate from any other portion of the quotation. The offeror shall propose a firm-fixed-price for each CLIN. Price quotations shall remain valid for a period of 90 days from the date quotations are due.

2) Technical Quotation: The technical quotation shall address the following:

Technical Capability: The offeror shall submit a technical description or product literature for the equipment it is proposing, which clearly identifies the manufacturer, make and model. The offeror shall http://www.sam.gov/ mailto:robert.cowins@nist.gov demonstrate that its proposed equipment meets each minimum requirement described in the specifications by providing a citation to the relevant section of its technical description or product literature. Evidence that the Offeror is authorized by the original equipment manufacturer to provide the item(s) should be included in the quotation if the offeror is not the manufacturer.

Acceptance of Terms and Conditions: This is an open-market solicitation for equipment as defined herein. The Government intends to award a Purchase Order as a result of this solicitation that will include the clauses set forth herein. The quotation should include one of the following statements:

“The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document without modification, deletion, or addition.”

OR

“The terms and conditions in the solicitation are acceptable to be included in the award document with the exception, deletion, or addition of the following:

Offeror shall list exception(s) and rationale for the exception(s)

Note: This procurement is not being conducted under the GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program or another Government-Wide Area Contract (GWAC). If an offeror submits a quotation based upon an FSS or GWAC contract, the Government will accept the quoted price. However, the terms and conditions stated herein will be included in any resultant Purchase Order, not the terms and conditions of the offeror’s FSS or GWAC contract, and the statement required above shall be included in the quotation.

QUOTATION EVALUATION:

Evaluation Factors

An award will be made to the offeror whose quotation offers the best value to the Government price and other factors considered. The Government will evaluate quotations based on the following evaluation criteria: 1) Technical Capability 2) Experience, 3) Past Performance, and 4) Price. All non-price factors, when combined, shall be equally important to price.

Technical Capability: No prototypes, demonstration models, used or refurbished instruments will be considered. Evaluation of technical capability shall be based on the information provided in the quotation. NIST will evaluate whether the offeror has demonstrated that its proposed equipment meets or exceeds all minimum requirements. Quotations that do not demonstrate the proposed equipment meets all requirements will not be considered further for award. If an offeror does not indicate whether its proposed equipment meets a certain minimum requirement, NIST will determine that it does not.

Experience: NIST will evaluate the extent of the offeror’s experience providing similar equipment. NIST will give preference to offerors who demonstrate they have experience delivering similar equipment.

Past Performance: The Government will evaluate the Offeror's past performance information and, if appropriate, its proposed subcontractors' past performance to determine its relevance to the current requirement and the extent to which it demonstrates that the offeror has successfully completed relevant contracts in the past five years. In assessing the offeror's past performance information, NIST will evaluate the quality, timeliness, and ability to control cost and schedule of the past work. The Government will evaluate past performance information by contacting appropriate references, including NIST references, if applicable. The Government may also consider other available information in evaluating the Offeror’s past performance. The Government will assign a neutral rating if the offeror has no relevant past performance information.

Past Performance, Experience, and Price shall not be evaluated on quotations that are determined technically unacceptable under the Technical Capability Evaluation factor.

1352.233-70 AGENCY PROTESTS (APR 2010)

(a) An agency protest may be filed with either: (1) the contracting officer, or (2) at a level above the contracting officer, with the appropriate agency Protest Decision Authority. See 64 Fed. Reg. 16,651 (April 6, 1999)

(b) Agency protests filed with the Contracting Officer shall be sent to the following address:

NIST/ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT DIVISION

ATTN: COWINS, ROBERT, CONTRACTING OFFICER

100 Bureau Drive, MS 1640 Gaithersburg, MD 20899

(c) Agency protests filed with the agency Protest Decision Authority shall be sent to the following address: NIST/ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT DIVISION

ATTN: HEAD OF THE CONTRACTING OFFICE (HCO)

100 Bureau Drive, MS 1640

Gaithersburg, MD 20899

(d) A complete copy of all agency protests, including all attachments, shall be served upon the Contract Law Division of the Office of the General Counsel within one day of filing a protest with either the Contracting Officer or the Protest Decision Authority.

(e) Service upon the Contract Law Division shall be made as follows:

U.S. Department of Commerce Office of the General Counsel Chief, Contract Law Division Room 5893 Herbert C. Hoover Building 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20230.

FAX: (202) 482-5858

1352.233-71 GAO AND COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS PROTESTS (APR 2010)

(a) A protest may be filed with either the Government Accountability Office (GAO) or the Court of Federal Claims unless an agency protest has been filed.

(b) A complete copy of all GAO or Court of Federal Claims protests, including all attachments, shall be served upon (i) the Contracting Officer, and (ii) the Contract Law Division of the Office of the General Counsel, within one day of filing a protest with either GAO or the Court of Federal Claims.

(c) Service upon the Contract Law Division shall be made as follows:

U.S. Department of Commerce Office of the General Counsel Chief, Contract Law Division Room 5893 Herbert C. Hoover Building

14th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20230.

FAX: (202) 482-5858

All offerors shall provide a quotation for the following line items: