Attachment A - Technical Requirements - RFP PR389499.pdf

Attachment A

Technical Requirements - Light Scattering Instrument and Supporting Components

RFP PR389499

Scattering angle range & resolution: A continuous angular range for both DLS and SLS measurements at scattering angles ranging from at least 15° - 150°, with a step size less than or equal to +/- 0.1° and an angular resolution less than or equal to +/- 0.1°.

Laser & attenuator: One wavelength between 532 and 685 nm with a max output > 150 mW. Attenuator to adjust laser intensity from at least 0.1% to 100% with fully automated control via instrument software. Class 1 laser product required.

Correlator & detectors: Multi-tau hardware correlator with at least 300 channels with a shortest delay time less than or equal to 25 ns. Must be able to do auto- and cross correlation. Single-mode fiber detection with a 50:50 fiber-optical beamsplitter. Two single photon avalanche detectors, or similar, with quantum efficiency > 60 % and dark counts < 300 cps.

Temperature control: Minimum range 15°C to 55°C. Sample temperature must be directly controlled via software. Temperature control stability +/- 0.1°C.

Polarization-resolved measurements: A polarization extinction ratio of at least 10-5 for both the illumination beam and the detection optics. The detection polarizer must be able to rotate between two pre-calibrated positions for parallel and perpendicular polarization.

This rotation must be controlled by the software such that automated polarization-resolved measurements are possible.

Suppression of multiple light scattering: The instrument must incorporate a hardware method for multiple scattering rejection in SLS and DLS measurements over the stated range of scattering angles. This method must enable DLS measurements with a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 60% of the standard light scattering mode measurement S/N for a transparent sample. The available minimum lag time for DLS measurements in the multiple scattering rejection mode must be faster than 1 microsecond. Switching between the suppression of multiple light scattering and the standard light scattering modes must be fully automated via the instrument software.

Flow cell: The instrument must incorporate a flow-through cell that is fully compatible with all instrument features. The flow-cell must enable connection to a user-supplied external fluidic circuit to load samples via fixed tubing into the instrument without exchanging sample cuvettes.

Computer and software: At least a PC with 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 or more recent, 32GB RAM, SSD with 500GB storage capacity, Windows 11 Pro, HDMI, and 4 USB ports, or equivalent. Together with screen (resolution 1920x1080), keyboard, and mouse.

A software to run all necessary features of the instrument remotely and record data for DLS and SLS. All this must be provided and installed. The software must have programmable macros for repeating measurements over time, temperature and/or at different angles. For SLS, it must be possible to represent the data in the form of Zimm plots. For DLS, CONTIN-type correlation function deconvolution method or equivalent to obtain the size distribution. The software must allow the raw SLS and DLS data to be exported in a non-proprietary format (e.g. ASCII file or Excel or similar)

Installation & Training: On-site setup and commissioning of the instrument by qualified personnel. On-site training for basic instrument use by qualified personnel.