Attachment_0001_Statement_of_Work.pdf

Solicitation N00173-18-R-ZL01

Attachment 0001

STATEMENT OF WORK

FOR

DESIGN, FABRICATION, AND ENGINEERING SUPPORT FOR LASER-PLASMA

INTERACTION RESEARCH and HIGH ENERGY LASER DEVELOPMENT

1. INTRODUCTION

The Laser Plasma Branch of the Plasma Physics Division at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) requires support for the design, fabrication, and engineering support for its Laser-Plasma interaction research and high energy laser development programs. The single largest program in the Branch is the

Laser Fusion Program that is sponsored by the Department of Energy as part of the Nation’s Inertial

Confinement Fusion (ICF) Program. This NRL program supports a National effort in ICF research. The program leads the world in the development of high energy Krypton Fluoride (KrF) lasers for fusion research. KrF has the shortest wavelength and most uniform target illumination capability of all high-energy lasers presently employed for inertial fusion. Both are very desirable features for high-gain direct-drive laser fusion. The program's NIKE KrF laser facility, completed in 1995, is the world's highest energy KrF laser, and it is used for research in laser target interactions. The adjacent Electra facility has developed the repetitively pulsed electron beam technologies needed to drive a high energy KrF laser at high repetition rates (5 pulses for second). The program is beginning an effort to develop the science and technology of the Argon Fluoride (ArF) laser that has shorter wavelength than ArF. The Laser Plasma

Branch laser fusion research involves collaborations with other Branches in the Plasma Physics Division and other Divisions at NRL. For example the Pulse Power Branch supports development of advanced electron beam sources to pump excimer lasers and the Laboratory for Computational Physics supports the development of large scale simulation codes for the laser-target interactions. The Contractor will also need to support these collaborative activities such as procurement and installation of a large computer cluster needed for the research.

The NIKE laser facility consists of a 56 beam high-power 3-kJ KrF laser and a laser-target interaction installation. The laser consists of an oscillator, several stages of amplification by discharge-pumped amplifiers, followed by 20 cm. aperture and 60 cm. aperture Electron-beam pumped amplifiers. The energy from the Electron-beam pumped amplifiers is extracted using angular multiplexing where numerous short duration laser beams are incident on each amplifier one after the other. The system utilizes approximately 300 mounted mirrors and lenses. The optics range up to 80 cm. in diameter. The optics and amplifiers cover approximately 10,000 square feet of floor space. The energy from the 56 output beams from the laser is focused and overlapped onto small plastic or cryogenic targets contained in a vacuum chamber. Experiments are conducted on the laser-target interaction for ICF research using this facility. The laser target-interaction studies with Nike require engineering and fabrication support to develop new diagnostic systems and other unique scientific apparatus.

The Electra facility was developed to advance the science and technologies required to develop an efficient, cost effective, and durable repetitively pulsed electron beam system to pump high-energy excimer lasers. One application is an electron beam pumped KrF laser for ICF research. In an oscillator mode, Electra has produced energies of greater than 700 Joules per pulse, at both 2.5 Hz and 5 Hz. For this application, the ultimate goals are to develop the science and technologies needed to achieve an overall efficiency of 6-7%, and a durability of 2x108 shots between maintenance. To that end, the program predicts an efficiency > 7.0%, based on experimental advances with the individual components, and has developed a new all solid-state pulsed power sub scale demonstrator that has run for 11,000,000 pulses continuous at 10 Hz. The individual components have run for over 300,000,000 pulses continuous.

Several other applications for this technology are being studied, including the use of electron beams for gas treatments (e.g. elimination of NOx and SOx from flue gas), electron beam induced fuel reformation

(example: converting natural gas to liquid fuels), and materials surface treatment (example: hardening surfaces mitigating/preventing corrosion damage). The major tasks for the Electra program are to pursue both these research opportunities and develop new ones. In many cases this will require developing the technology to optimize the electron beam for each application. Other tasks will include e-beam and laser technology development. The program plans to convert the Electra system from KrF to ArF operation.

This will require modification to the optical system to accommodate the shorter laser wavelength and modifications to the Electra electron beam diode to provide higher pumps rates to the laser gas.

The optical and laser physics design effort, and research with the Nike and Electra facilities are performed by scientists and research engineers at NRL and other collaborating laboratories. Contractor support is required in the areas of electro-mechanics, including the design, fabrication, installation, maintenance, operation, and trouble-shooting of hardware required to complete and maintain the NRL facilities and conduct research. Future activities may include KrF and ArF laser research, including electron beam physics, pulsed power and optical and electron beam materials research, including repetitive electron beam diodes. The program is advancing the technologies needed to obtain extreme laser bandwidths both with KrF lasers and the Nd: glass lasers used on other laser facilities. A frequency doubled 10 J Nd:glass laser is being procured and installed to supplement the work with KrF and ArF lasers. This new work is expected to require extensive engineering and fabrication support to develop the needed research infrastructure.

2. SCOPE

The Contractor shall provide research and development support for the Laser Plasma Branch’s research programs. This requires Contractor efforts in research engineering for development of KrF and ArF lasers, other electron beam technologies, as well as design, fabrication, installation, and repair of research hardware and related equipment. The Contractor shall support design and engineering efforts as well as machining, fabrication, acquisition and assembly of hardware off site, and shall deliver systems and subsystems to NRL after completion. Government-furnished Property (GFP) may be included in these systems or subsystems (e.g., optical components to be mounted, vacuum components to be incorporated in systems, etc.). Design work will be done primarily off site, but will typically require frequent meeting

(weekly) on site between the Contractor's engineers and NRL researchers. In addition, the Contractor shall provide technical on-site support to integrate newly developed designs with existing hardware, and for assembly, debugging, and repair of research hardware delivered to NRL. For the purpose of this statement of work, "on-site" is defined as the research facility at NRL, while "off-site" refers to the

Contractor's place of business, or other subcontractor facilities.

The Contractor shall a) perform innovative research and development efforts; b) design, fabricate and deliver to NRL, hardware required for operation of, and research with, the Nike, Electra and new Nd:glass laser facilities; c) install, modify, and repair new and existing equipment in support of on-going research efforts; and d) document system and subsystem performance. This work shall be performed pursuant to a series of Technical Directive Memoranda (TDM). These Technical Instructions for performance of design and fabrication efforts on any particular piece of hardware will be issued by the COR over the lifetime of the contract, and will be limited by the level of effort specified by the contract. The Contractor shall perform all such work in timely manner.

3. REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall provide all necessary personnel, material engineering, and other resources necessary to perform the scope described in paragraph 2 above, and provide all labor and materials necessary to support the following tasks.

3.1 Design:

The Contractor shall conceive and design specific hardware for use in the research carried out with the

Nike and Electra facilities. This shall include, but may not be limited to, modifications and repair of existing hardware or new systems. Design details, drawings and computer-aided design (CAD) disks and media shall be delivered to the COR as CAP. Typical designs that have already been completed, but may require future modifications, include, but may not be limited to: a) design of a large 48-mirror turning array for laser beams; b) design of vacuum spatial filters for laser beams; c) design of the high-vacuum system for a large target chamber; and d) mechanical design of a large KrF laser chamber. Future projects that may fall under this requirement include, but may not be limited to: a) design of specialized translators; b) design of optics holders; and design and development of a novel ArF laser amplifier cell and pulse power system, c) design of purpose built electron beam deposition hardware and components, including means to deposit the beam energy into plasma, gaseous, liquid, and/or solid targets The

Government anticipates that the required design work will be primarily mechanical, electro-mechanical, and opto-mechanical. The Contractor shall also provide electronics and control engineering efforts, as required by the COR.

3.2 Fabrication and Modification:

The Contractor shall provide innovative and creative solutions to improve overall performance, efficiency, quality, and reliability of experimental laser systems. The Contractor shall fabricate new hardware and modify existing hardware on unique laser research projects. These efforts may require

Contractor use of GFP and the acquisition of components through outside shops or distributors. Hardware resulting from this requirement shall be delivered to NRL for use in the experimental program. Examples of tasks anticipated under this requirement include, but may not be limited to: a) fabrication/modification of a large 48-mirror turning array for laser beams; b) fabrication/modification of vacuum spatial filters for laser beams; c) fabrication/modification of the high-vacuum system for a large target chamber; d) fabrication/modification of a large KrF laser chamber; e) fabrication/modification of specialized translators; f) fabrication/modification of optics holders; g) research and development and fabrication/modification of Nike’s KrF and Electra’s ArF laser amplifier cells and pulse power systems,,

h) fabrication of purpose built electron beam deposition hardware and components, including means to deposit the beam energy into plasma, gaseous, liquid, and/or solid targets. The Contractor shall provide a rapid response (defined as a 2-day turn-around) to small scale machining and modification tasks, an example of which would be providing or modifying < 4-inch diameter custom vacuum flanges.

3.3 Design, fabrication, and installation of large subsystems for the Nike, Electra and Nd:glass facilities:

The Contractor shall pursue efforts associated with major subsystems from design through fabrication and installation of the subsystem. Subsystem tasks assigned to the Contractor may include, but may not be limited to: a) implementation of different diagnostics and data acquisition systems in the Nike target chamber; b) development of laser gas recirculators or foil support structures for the existing laser systems;

c) development of the next generation rep-rate KrF laser large-aperture amplifier cells; d) new schemes for pulse power delivery to the amplifier cells or electron beam diodes. The Contractor shall monitor these systems; ensuring that the costs are minimized in design, fabrication and installation of the subsystems; ensuring that the work is completed in a timely manner; and ensuring that the subsystems meet the research requirements.

3.4 Planning, acquisition and assembly of Complex System Components:

The Contractor shall locate sources, procure components, and assemble complex systems required for the research effort. This shall include, but may not be limited to: a) optical systems used to transport laser beams; b) diagnostic systems used for laser and target experiments.

3.5 Novel Engineering Development and Design:

The Contractor shall provide on-site research, engineering, and technical development efforts in support of the Laser Plasma Branch mission. The work may require design of experimental hardware, data acquisition, and data analysis, with appropriate documentation. The required engineering tasks may include, but may not be limited to: a) improvements in electron beam generation and transport into a laser chamber and/or other media, b) electron beam deposition, c) electron beam transmission windows, d) laser beam transport, and e) advanced optical systems.

3.6 Technical Support:

The Contractor shall provide design, fabrication, modification, operation, and maintenance efforts toward completion of, and research with, the Nike and Electra lasers in the following technical areas:

3.6.1 Laser Optical System:

The Nike system utilizes several hundred reflective and refractive optics to direct the beams through the system and includes several large vacuum relay and telescopes. The Contractor shall provide electro-mechanical support for the maintenance and modifications of the mounting systems and vacuum systems for the optics of the Nike laser. This task will require experience in high-vacuum systems, and in the design, fabrication and mounting of large single optics and arrays of optics with provision for minimal distortion of the optics and resistance to vibration. The Contractor shall also provide appropriate engineer/scientist to maintain, troubleshoot, repair, and operate the Nike laser positioning, alignment, and front-end amplifier systems.

3.6.2 Target Facility:

The target facility includes a large vacuum chamber and associated optics that direct laser beams onto targets, and instrumentation to diagnose both the laser beams and the laser-target interaction. The

Contractor shall provide electro-mechanical support for the vacuum system for the chamber, the target manipulation hardware, cryogenic target insertion systems, mounts and interfaces for instrumentation used to align targets and laser beams, and to study the laser-target interaction. The Contractor shall provide personnel with experience and expertise in designing, fabricating and installing large high-vacuum chambers, in cryogenic technology, and in designing one-of-a-kind mechanical instrumentation required for research, to support this tasking.

3.7 Government Furnished Property (GFP)/Contractor Acquired Property (CAP):

Government Furnished Property (GFP) may be provided to support the effort as defined in paragraphs 2.0 and 3.2. The Contractor shall maintain proper accountability and safeguards of all GFP in accordance with FAR 52.245-1 and requirements set forth in this SOW. The Contractor shall track, move and account for Government Property in accordance with Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 5000.64, Accountability and management of DoD Equipment and Other Accountable Property. The Contractor is responsible for providing a report on accountability for the GFP, whether the GFP is in good working order, missing, or broken and needing repair. The Contractor shall prepare and submit GFP and CAP inventory reports in accordance with DD1423 data item A005.

3.8 Travel:

Costs for transportation shall be based upon mileage rates, actual costs incurred, or a combination thereof, provided the method used results in a reasonable charge. Travel costs will be considered reasonable and allowable only to the extent that they do not exceed on a daily basis, the maximum per diem rates in effect at the time of the travel. The Joint Federal Travel Regulations (JFTR), while not wholly applicable to contractors, shall provide the basis for the determination as to reasonable and allowable. Maximum use is to be made of the lowest available customary standard coach or equivalent airfare accommodations available during normal business hours.

4 DELIVERABLES

4.1 Hardware deliverable requirements shall be in accordance with the TDM to be provided before commencement of each project.

4.2 The Contractor shall deliver data and reports in accordance with the attached Contract Data

Requirements Lists (CDRLs), Form DD1423. Data deliverables shall be Non-Separately Priced.

CDRLs

Monthly Cost Reports: A001

Progress Report: A002

Design Drawing, Documentation, Plans & Manuals: A003

Final Report: A004

GFP and CAP Inventory Reports: A005