Sole_Source_Justification_-_Raman_Spectrometer.pdf

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

FOR FEDERAL PROCUREMENTS UNDER SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION THRESHOLD (i.e. < $150,000)

1. Describe the supply or service to be acquired and the total estimated dollar value:

2. List the proposed vendor/contractor (name, contact, and phone number) and describe the unique knowledge or capabilities of the proposed vendor/contractor: (e.g. your explanation should provide the rationale for using the recommended product to be purchased from a specific vendor/contractor. The justification must clearly explain what is unique about the technical features of the product and/or if the identical product is required to maintain continuity of research data).

3. FAR Authority:

FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i).

4. Certification:

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

Typed/Printed Name and Signature of Technical Representative Date

5. CO Certification:

I hereby determine that the circumstances of this procurement/contract action deem only one source reasonably available. Also, to the best of my knowledge the quoted price is fair and reasonable (see market research supporting documentation in the order file).

Contracting Officer Date

Reviewed By:

Business Service Center (Team Lead/Chief) Date

Text1: EMFSL has already constructed a Raman point-scan spectral imaging platform and currently uses a 785nm-laser spectrometer module on this platform for Raman hyperspectral imaging. The item to be purchased is a new spectrometer module that uses a 1064nm laser and has additional capabilities, and can be swapped out with the existing 785 nm module and integrated for use on the same imaging platform. The new 1064nm-spectrometer module includes the spectrometer as well as software, software development kit needed for system integration, bifurcated fiber optic Raman probe, and PeakFinder video Raman probe that allows for adaptation to perform microscopic Raman imaging.

The price for the new Raman spectrometer module is $62,480.

Text2: BaySpec, Inc.

1101, McKay Drive, San Jose, CA 95131 USA Contact: Lynn Chandler Phone number: 408-512-5952 Email: lchandler@bayspec.com

Typical commercial 1064-nm Raman spectroscopy systems from other vendors are Fourier Transform systems (FT-Raman), which are set up as a full and independent stand-alone systems as large as EMFSL's entire Raman imaging platform system. These FT-Raman systems cannot be integrated for use with the existing EMFSL system as an add-on module. The BaySpec uses their Volume Phase Grating (TM) in their 1064-nm spectrometer module that has a dispersive spectrograph that is physically similar to that in the current EMFSL 785-nm spectrometer module. This software provided with the BaySpec specctrometer module will allow us to integrate the new module easily, and we will be able to easily swap out our current 785-nm module with the new 1064-nm module as needed for research.

We are doing Raman chemical imaging, which is a form of hyperspectral imaging. This is not the same as conventional Raman spectroscopy for which most existing and common Raman spectrometers are designed for. My research group has pioneered hyperspectral imaging techniques and already-established available commercial instrumentation (benchtop systems) are not suitable for the development work we are doing. These are new techniques we (and a few specialized companies such as BaySpec) are working with.

Compared to the instrument specified in this sole-source request, the only comparable known instrument is a now-discontinued item previously offered by ChemImage Inc. Included in the file is product information for this no-longer-available instrument, which was then offered at $250K - $750K (depending on options) when we were collaborating with ChemImage in 2010. Based upon this known historical pricing data, the BaySpec model price is not only fair and reasonable, but it is very economical.

EBuy RFQ1142470, which closed on September 15, 2016, soliciting quotes for a Raman Spectrometer of the identical specifications described herein, and specifically directed to vendors selling Raman Spectrometers, produced no quotes, providing further justification for a sole source procurement