REDACTED-Sole-Source-Justification.pdf

Control No. 15-39

Simplified Acquisition Sole Source Justification Review Document

Program/Equipment: Toptica Photonics Laser-Based Ion Trapping Systems

Authority: 41 USC 1901, implemented by FAR 13.501(a): The property or services needed by the executive agency are available from only one responsible source and no other type of property or services will satisfy the needs of the executive agency.

Amount: $758,808.00

Prepared By:

[REDACTED]

Procuring Contracting Officer:

Technical Representative:

Requirements Representative:

Legal Review: I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support other than full and open competition.

Simplified Acquisition Sole Source Justification

Using Simplified Acquisition Procedures

1.a. Contracting Agency:

U.S. Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground, Adelphi Contracting Division, (ACC-APG-CCAP-SCA), 2800

Powder Mill Road, Adelphi, Maryland 20783

1.b. Requiring Agency:

U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL), [REDACTED] 2800 Powder Mill Rd., Adelphi, MD 20783

2. Description of Action:

Approval is requested to solicit for a new Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) type contract in support of the [REDACTED] for two (2) Laser Based Ion Trapping Systems on an Other Than Full and Open Competitive bases with Toptica Photonics, located at

1286 Blossom Drive, Suite 1, Victor, NY 14564-1402. This will be a one-time purchase and will utilize Fiscal Year (FY) 2015

Research and Development Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) funding.

3. Description of Supplies/Services: The proposed commercial acquisition is for:

Laser-Based Ion Trapping Systems as follows: Quantity Part Number

Total (including all items): $ 758,808.00

4. Authority Cited:

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 USC 1901, implemented by FAR 13.501(a), using the specific authority selected below:

__X__(1) The property or services needed by the executive agency are available from only one responsible source and no other type of property or services will satisfy the needs of the executive agency;

____(2) The executive agency’s need for the property or services is of such an unusual and compelling urgency that the Federal

Government would be seriously injured unless the executive agency is permitted to limit the number of sources from which it solicits bids or proposals;

____(3) It is necessary to award the contract to a particular source—

____(A) to maintain a facility, producer, manufacturer, or other supplier available for furnishing property or services in case of a national emergency or to achieve industrial mobilization;

____(B) to establish or maintain an essential engineering, research, or development capability to be provided by an educational or other nonprofit institution or a Federally funded research and development center;

____(C) to procure the services of an expert for use, in any litigation or dispute (including any reasonably foreseeable litigation or dispute) involving the Federal Government, in any trial, hearing, or proceeding before a court, administrative tribunal, or agency, whether or not the expert is expected to testify; or

____(D) to procure the services of an expert or neutral for use in any part of an alternative dispute resolution or negotiated rulemaking process, whether or not the expert is expected to testify;

____(4) The terms of an international agreement or treaty between the Federal Government and a foreign government or an international organization, or the written directions of a foreign government reimbursing the executive agency for the cost of the procurement of the property or services for that government, have the effect of requiring the use of procedures other than competitive procedures;

____(5) Subject to section 3105 of this title, a statute expressly authorizes or requires that the procurement be made through another executive agency or from a specified source, or the agency’s need is for a brand-name commercial item for authorized resale;

____(6) The disclosure of the executive agency’s needs would compromise the national security unless the agency is permitted to limit the number of sources from which it solicits bids or proposals; or

____(7) The head of the executive agency (who may not delegate the authority under this paragraph)— http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/41/3105

(A) determines that it is necessary in the public interest to use procedures other than competitive procedures in the particular procurement concerned; and

(B) notifies Congress in writing of that determination not less than 30 days before the award of the contract.

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

[REDACTED] of the ARL is currently expanding its program under Program Objective Memorandum guidance and is establishing new atomic physics [REDACTED] . In order to achieve this objective, the Government requires Laser-Based Ion Trapping

Systems capable of laser trapping and cooling of ions and atoms at precise times and length scales.

The Laser-Based Ion Trapping Systems must be capable of providing light at the wavelengths specified above with power levels in the range of tens of mW to 1.5W, and must be able to provide fast feedback using the Pound-Drever-Hall method. Ions and neutral atoms only interact with very specific wavelengths of light; the light must have enough power, and must be stable and have narrow linewidth. Hence, in order to sufficiently address and manipulate the ion and neutral atom systems studied by ARL’s Quantum

Sciences group (i.e. ytterbium, barium and rubidium) we require the wavelengths, power, and feedback capabilities detailed above.

The nature of the research that the [REDACTED] group is conducting requires precise excitation of energy states in order to elicit the desired quantum communication effects. [REDACTED] The above characteristics are what allows the system to meet these requirements. After conducting a thorough market survey of manufacturers of like products (reference Section 8 below for specifics), the Government has not found a responsible source other than Toptica Photonics that can meet the Government’s minimum requirements. Due to the aforementioned, Toptica Photonics is the only manufacturer that can fulfill the Government’s requirements for this capability.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition:

Based on the market research performed for this requirement, there are no vendors other than Toptica Photonics that are able to provide the aforementioned Laser-Based Trapping Systems. However, in an effort to obtain maximum competition, vendors who were potentially capable of producing a system that would meet the Government’s requirement were identified by the market research efforts described below. Exact system specifications were then obtained and further analyzed by the Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) identified in Section 8. Market research concluded Toptica Photonics is the sole vendor with the capability of manufacturing these unique systems that can fulfill the Government’s minimum requirements. Consequently, the Government’s market research findings support the determination that seeking to procure the Laser-Based Trapping Systems under full and open competition would not be in the best interest of the Government, however, the Government will continue to monitor the market for other vendors with the capabilities required to duplicate Toptica Photonics Laser-Based Trapping systems thus allowing for a competitive procurement environment.

7. Actions to Increase Competition:

By making the Government's requirements known, this has served notice to the laser and ion-trapping industry that further acquisitions may require them to advance their products to include the features required for the stated application. As this area of research expands, other companies may develop similar capabilities. In the future, multiple suppliers may be able to provide the high stability, narrow line-width, lockable systems that this research requires that will then lead to increased competition. Prior to the initiation of future acquisitions, the market will be continually surveyed to determine whether another manufacturer has emerged that can fulfill the Government’s requirements, thus justifying the need for a competitive procurement.

8. Market Research:

Market Research was conducted during the months of November and December of 2014 [REDACTED] Together these individuals have experience working with a variety of laser systems, including lasers from Toptica, Sacher, Newport, Photodigm among others.

Together, these individuals have combined experience with an array of laser systems from different vendors such as Toptica

Photonics, Sacher, MOGLabs, Photodigm. In-house built laser systems was also discussed to not only evaluate how closely lasers from each of these sources could potentially meet the required specifications, but to also discuss the reliability of the products.

Catalogs and data sheets were obtained online or by talking with colleagues who have used similar systems and specifications were compared to those of our specific needs. Direct contact via phone-calls were also made with several companies including Toptica

Photonics, Photodigm and MOGLabs in order to gather detailed specifications of their systems and to discuss our requirements.

Lastly, representatives from Quantel provided a demonstration of one of their laser systems which allowed the Government to further analyze their ability to meet our requirement.

In summation of the Government’s findings, market research concluded the following:

Bristol Instruments has a wavemeter (621 series) which will cover our required wavelength range but only allows one laser to be monitored at once with a resolution in the 10 MHz range. This falls short of the requirement for a resolution of 500 KHz for eight (8) simultaneous laser wavelengths.

MOGLabs is able to meet several of the wavelength requirements with their ECD004 external cavity diode laser system along with a wavemeter which allows monitoring and locking feedback to multiple lasers. However, the linewidths of their lasers are around 200

KHz (two times greater than the 100 KHz offered by the DL-Pro lasers from Toptica Photonics) and the wavemeter provides a resolution of 200 MHz, orders of magnitude larger than that offered by the WSU-2 from Toptica Photonics, and much larger than the required 500 KHz resolution.

Coherent can provide a wavemeter (the WaveMaster model) which is only capable of single wavelength monitoring and is not capable of providing feedback to the lasers. Additionally it has a resolution of hundreds of MHz which is far greater than the required 500

KHz.

Sacher is able to provide some of the wavelengths required with their Lion Series of lasers. These have similar linewidths to the

Toptica Photonics lasers, however, the powers are significantly lower. For example, at 650 nm (Lion Series: TEC-500-650-010 model) Sacher can only provide a maximum of 10 mW whereas the Toptica system can provide 80 mW. Sacher is also unable to provide the required wavemeter in their system.

Photodigm is not able to provide lasers at wavelengths suitable for our requirements. They are also unable to provide the required wavemeter.

Thorlabs is not able to provide laser units with the powers, wavelengths and linewidths which are required, although it is possible that component parts could be sourced from Thorlabs and the system constructed in-house. However, the time, effort and funding required to construct such a complex system as that required would far outpace the upfront cost of purchasing a complete system. Additionally, the home-built system would not be guaranteed or warranted and there is no guarantee that the system will perform to the required specifications. Further, the larger laser linewidths and wavemeter resolutions are unsuitable for the narrow linewidth locking the lab requires in order to perform precise manipulation of a trapped atom’s internal states and, if used would severely reduce the lab’s capability to study and establish quantum communication nodes and quantum networks. It is also an advantage if the individual parts of the system are inter-compatible in order to create a larger modular system which can be easily reproduced at different nodes of a quantum network. Additionally, another advantage of procuring a dedicated system from one source is that the entire system will be warranted and guaranteed to work to the specifications quoted and required. This would not be possible if the individual components of the system are procured from different sources as specifications and results may vary due to individual compatibility issues. This would lead to increased costs associated with the maintenance of several vendor components versus one vendor who could supply all system components as the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

Due to the aforementioned, Toptica Photonics is the sole manufacturer that can fulfill the Government’s requirements.

9. Interested Sources:

A synopsis detailing the Government’s intent to issue a sole source award to Toptica Photonics was published to the Federal Business

Opportunities (FBO) website on 22 July 2015. To date, no other company has written to express an interest. Any proposals received prior to the closing date of the synopsis will be considered.

10. Other Facts:

a. Procurement history: There is no procurement history as the above-mentioned Laser-Based Ion Trapping System is a first- time buy.

b. Other Facts. None

c. Follow-on Contracts – N/A

11. Technical Certification:

I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

12. Requirements Certification:

I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

13. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination:

I hereby determine that the anticipated cost to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable. The basis for this determination will be a price analysis of prior invoices where the same Toptica Photonics Laser Systems sold in the past twelve (12) months and published price list. The invoices and price list will be compared against the price offered for this contract to determine fair and reasonableness.

14. Procuring Contracting Officer Certification:

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

APPROVAL

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of Toptica Photonics Laser-Based Ion Trapping Systems on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 41 USC 1901, implemented by FAR 13.501(a), subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services and property herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.