80LARC20C0016 - Diode JOFOC - 250K-7M - Redacted.pdf

Version: Base

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA)

Langley Research Center

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION (JOFOC)

For 1532 nm Pump Laser Diodes

1. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.303-1(b)(1) – Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for other than full and open competition.”

This document is a justification for other than full and open competition prepared by

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center:

The procuring agency is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the contracting activity is Office of Procurement, Langley Research Center for the Langley Research Center.

2. FAR 6.303-2(b)(2) – The nature and/or description of the action being approved:

This justification provides the rationale for contracting by other than full and open competition to award a sole-source, Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract to nLIGHT for high efficiency 1532 nm pump laser diode modules. The government has a requirement to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the 1532nm pump diode. This effort will advance on the current industry-leading 1532 nm pump laser diode modules to increase efficiency and optical brightness and to assemble in a space-qualifiable package for integration into future space-based Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) missions as part of the larger Instrument Incubator Program (IIP) at NASA LaRC.

3. FAR 6.303-2(b)(3) – A description of the supplies or services required, to meet the

Agency’s needs (including the estimated value):

NASA LaRC is developing a water vapor differential absorption lidar (DIAL) space-mission concept to fly on affordable small-satellite platforms for future flight-mission opportunities.

At the heart of this concept study is the advancement of an Er:YAG pulsed solid state laser that is adapted from an existing high fidelity airborne prototype. The airborne Er:YAG prototype laser employs the use of commercially available 1532 nm pump diodes from nLIGHT as they currently lead the industry in power, brightness, efficiency, and overall mechanical footprint.

To enable operation on a small-satellite platform where size, weight and power are limited, the pump laser diodes used in the Er:YAG laser design must exhibit markedly improved electrical-optical conversion efficiency compared to the existing commercially available nLIGHT 1532 nm pump diodes used in the airborne prototype. Additionally, the pump diode modules packaging must be compatible with future spaceflight operation. To accomplish this work, the Contractor will be required to design, fabricate, integrate and furnish the improved pump laser diode modules in accordance with the following:

• Increase the electrical to optical efficiency (ex-fiber) of wavelength stabilized 1532 nm fiber coupled pump laser diode modules from industry-leading 22% to >40% while maintaining >35W optical output from a 220µm diameter fiber with 0.22 numerical aperture.

• Package improved efficiency pump laser diodes in a housing with mass and volume of ≤600g (not including optical fiber) and ≤200 cubic centimeters, respectively.

• Delivery of two prototypes for evaluation at NASA Langley within 12 months of contract award.

• Delivery of three fully packaged pump laser diode modules with viability for space travel within 18 months of contract award.

Recently, NASA Langley was awarded a competitively selected Instrument Incubator Program (IIP) through the NASA Earth Science Technology Office NASA Research Announcement (NRA) to advance the technology readiness level (TRL) of laser technologies required to enable a future space-based water vapor DIAL mission. Improving the pump laser diode electrical-optical efficiency provides the most straight-forward approach to reducing the overall power budget for space-based lidar instruments. The primary focus of this procurement is to improve the optical-to-electrical efficiency of the pump diodes from ~20% to >40% while maintaining all the performance metrics of the current commercially available diodes (>35W from a 220 µm diameter fiber with 0.22 numerical aperture).

The total estimated cost of the diode advancement/procurement is estimated to be between $1.5M.

4. FAR 6.303-2(b)(4) – An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

Provision for this JOFOC is made under the statutory authority of 10 USC 2304(c)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, based on the justification outlined below.

5. FAR 6.303-2(b)(5) – A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

The rationale supporting the use of 10 U.S.C. 2304(c) (1) is that nLight is the only contractor capable of meeting the Government’s full requirement in form, fit, and function as described below:

The currently available nLIGHT 1532 nm wavelength stabilized pearl P14 Fiber Coupled Diode Laser is the highest optical power (35W) and most efficient laser commercially available on the market in a package that has traceability to future space-flight operation.

Based on products available today, the nLIGHT diodes are the only ones on the market that can achieve the required output power of 35W from a 220 μm diameter fiber with 0.22 numerical aperture. Fiber core diameters and numerical apertures of 220 μm and 0.22, respectively, are required for efficient focusing/ pumping of the Er:YAG crystal within the space-limited pulsed laser cavity.

The nLIGHT diode modules are uniquely qualified to meet the brightness and efficiency requirements, and the diodes are also the foundation of an airborne pulsed Er:YAG laser being developed by industry partners under a separate vehicle set to be completed and delivered to NASA Langley by Summer 2020. The industry partner’s Er:YAG laser optical design was tailored to the performance specs of the nLIGHT pump modules because it was solely capable of providing the required power, optical brightness, and electrical-optical efficiency in the most compact package commercially available on the market. The design of the airborne Er:YAG which employs the use of the commercially-available nLIGHT 1532 nm pump modules is the starting point for the development of a spaceflight Er:YAG laser under this IIP effort.

Given the goal to advance upon the performance of the currently-used diodes which have the required form, fit and function in the Er:YAG laser, it is necessary to have nLIGHT continue to advance upon their own devices using their own proprietary product regarding the design, brightness and power scaling, and spaceflight packaging. Specifically:

Design – the proprietary design of current nLIGHT diodes and their expertise is required to achieve the efficiency improvements. Government-funded efforts with nLIGHT at neighboring wavelengths have resulted in substantial improvement to electrical to optical efficiency. The design practices and processes utilized in those programs at neighboring wavelengths are unique in their capability to advance the 1532 nm diodes electrical to optical efficiency to >40%.

Brightness and Power Scaling – nLIGHT is the only diode manufacturer that utilizes Reduced Mode Diodes (REM). nLIGHT’s patented REM diodes can suppress higher order modes that typically arise in diodes due to thermal lensing. nLIGHT has demonstrated REM technology which allows laser diodes to operate at higher powers without suffering from fiber-coupling losses. This allows optimization of devices with the end goal of 2x improvement in wall plug efficiency, and to the government’s knowledge, nLIGHT is the only commercial vendor currently using this technology which is unique in its ability to drive required efficiency of <70W waste heat when operating at 40W.

Packaging—the unique packaging of the current product has spaceflight heritage through the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) and Cloud Aerosol Transport System (CATS) space-flight lidar programs. In the power scaling requirements described above, nLIGHT is unique in its capability to provide the government’s required efficiencies while maintaining a product mass of <700g with a total volume of <300 cubic centimeters. This allows the diode to fit within the parameters of the Er:YAG laser packaging and the required spaceflight-required parameters.

Currently, only nLIGHT has the capability of achieving the required efficiency improvements while maintaining the form and fit to be placed inside the Er:YAG laser infrastructure and to maintain spaceflight capability.

6. FAR 6.303-2(b)(6) – A description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies:

The requirements office called two additional vendors (see paragraph 8) to determine capability for meeting the diode specification improvements. No vendors other than nLIGHT responded with interest or the ability to meet all of NASAs specifications for improvement with existing products. In addition, subject matter experts at LaRC and other NASA Centers were contacted for their knowledge of the market and stated no other firm is known to have a product that meets the Government’s requirements at this time. Industry partners with expertise in laser development also indicated that there are no known sources that can meet LaRC requirements with existing products at this time.

7. FAR 6.303-2(b)(7) – A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

The Contracting Officer’s signature on this document indicates that the Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost to the government will be fair and reasonable. The Contractor shall be required to submit a proposal to be evaluated and negotiated by the Government. Prior to execution of the contractual instrument, a proposal analysis will be performed. The proposal analysis will ensure that the final agreed-to price for the contract action is fair and reasonable using both cost/price realism and a detailed cost and price analysis.

8. FAR 6.303-2(b)(8) – Description of the market research conducted, and the results, or a statement of the reasons a market research was not conducted:

Market research conducted by the requiring activity confirms that nLIGHT is the only vendor capable of providing 1532 nm pump laser diodes with a potential for improved electrical-optical efficiency above 40% while maintaining all the other required operational specifications including optical, mechanical, and electrical interfaces.

Specifications for two other diode manufacturers were reviewed for use in this effort.

Specifically, and 1532 nm pump diode were reviewed, as these manufacturers produce the diode modules most similar to the existing nLIGHT pump modules. However, neither of those vendors’ specifications come close to 1) meeting the power or brightness requirements at even the lower electrical efficiencies and 2) have recent space-flight heritage with similar devices. The pump diode modules have less than half of the optical power of the nLIGHT (12W vs 35W) diodes at an even lower electrical efficiency (17% vs 22%). Furthermore, the diode modules are not wavelength stabilized, and as a result have 12x and 40x increase in spectral width center wavelength, respectively, compared to the nLIGHT devices. The diode module has twice the output power of the nLIGHT module, however, the delivery fiber is 400 nm diameter which is incompatible with the existing Er:YAG pulsed laser optical design and the package is prohibitively large (2,280 cm3 vs ~200 cm3).

Program. Utilization of nLIGHT and their existing proprietary design and products will significantly reduce the form, fit, function, schedule and cost risk when compared to a redesign and subsequent qualification for other vendors.

10. FAR 6.303-2(b)(10) – A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed an interest in writing in the acquisition:

No written interest was expressed to the Government.

11. FAR 6.303-2(b)(11) – A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required:

No follow-on or subsequent acquisitions are planned. However, if this technology is developed to be viable for spaceflight or airborne applications, other industry partners and contractors would procure these diodes directly. The Government has no plans for any direct follow-on action at this time.

JOFOC Signature Page for 1532 nm Pump Laser Diodes

I certify that the facts presented in this justification are accurate and complete.

_Original Signed by___________________ ______________ Dr. Amin Nehrir Date Technical Representative

I hereby certify that the above justification is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

__ Original Signed by ________________ _______________ Lisa M. Harvey Date Contracting Officer

Concurrence:

_ Original Signed by _____________ _______________ Susan E. McClain Date Procurement Officer

Approved:

_ Original Signed by _____________ _______________ David F. Young Date Center Competition Advocate