A18 FBO Notice of Intent.pdf

NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE:

NB687080-20-01810 CDR

This requirement is conducted under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.501. This is a notice of intent to negotiate a sole source procurement only and is not a request for competitive quotations. However, contractors who want to challenge this sole source must submit a capabilities statement that demonstrates their ability to meet this requirement.

The capabilities statement must demonstrate your organizations’ ability to provide the product(s) and/or service(s) capabilities as described within this notice, as well as the associated Specifications Document. Only responses received by 10:00A.M. Mountain Daylight Time on July 21, 2020, will be considered by the Government directly to Patricia Rose, Contracting Officer, at patricia.rose@nist.gov and email subject header must include NB687080-20-01810.

No solicitation package will be issued. Responses received will be evaluated; however, a determination by the Government not to compete the proposed procurement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will typically be considered solely to determine whether to conduct a competitive procurement.

NIST shall not reimburse for any cost(s) connected with providing the capabilities statement.

Therefore, The United States Department of Commerce (DOC), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Acquisition Management Division (AMD) intends to negotiate on a sole-source basis with BlueFors Oy of Finland. The statutory authority for this acquisition is 41 USC 1901 and FAR 13.501.

The requirement is assigned NAICS code 334516 – Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing, and Small Business Size Standard is 1,000 employees.

DELIVERABLES: BF-LD250S, BF0010020, Model BF-LD250S Cryogen-Free Dilution Refrigerator System per attached Specifications.

ATTACHMENTS/REFERENCES: see attached specifications.

JUSTIFICATION:

The Quantum Sensors Group seeks to purchase a cryogenic dilution refrigerator (DR) whose base temperature, cooling power, and mechanical form factor are matched to detector project needs. Through market research and previous experience, we discovered only Bluefors Oy can provide a tool which satisfies our specific requirements:

1. The DR system must be drop-in compatible with an existing set of cryogenic millimeter-wave filters and windows. These parts make up an `optical port', which is required for our cryogenic sensor array development. This hardware must be interchangeable with an existing DR to meet our research needs. The existing DR was provided by Bluefors Oy, and therefore purchasing the new system from Bluefors Oy guarantees drop-in compatibility.

2. The DR system must be drop-in compatible with custom software our group has written and uses for measurement automation. This software combines the control and monitoring of signals mailto:patricia.rose@nist.gov from our sensor arrays (which makes use of custom hardware and firmware), with the control and monitoring of the cryogenic temperature of the DR system. This software has been written to communicate with the Lakeshore370 AC resistance bridge, which is part of the Bluefors cryogenic control system. In principle new software could be written to interface with a different system; however, based on past experience, we estimate to do so would require three to six months of staff research time to complete new software, and additional time to train staff members on the new software.

3. Only Bluefors Oy can ensure a 3-hour hold time below 4K with the pulse tube cryocooler turned off. This option removes mechanical vibrations enabling an essential debugging tool for the development of our sensor arrays.

4. Only Bluefors dilution refrigerator inserts are free of soft solder joints, which are known to develop leaks over a several year timescale, which is beyond the warranty period.

Additionally, there are two mission impact reasons to purchase the Bluefors Oy system: First, this procurement requires that the vendor train NIST staff and associates how to use the system.

Group 687.08 already has one Bluefors system for which 10 staff and associate group members are qualified users. As the control and operation of the system would be near identical, we will save time and resources in not having to train 10+ people on a new cryogenic system. Second, parts and designs can be shared between systems, which decrease overall engineering time, saves cost when ordering multiple parts (i.e. economy of scale), and minimizes downtime of these systems when waiting for replacement parts.