NOTICE OF INTENT- Time Digitizer

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Acquisition Management Division intends to negotiate with Quantar Technology Incorporated, located in Santa Cruz, CA, on a sole source basis under the authority of FAR Subpart 13.106-1(b), soliciting from a single source, for a Time Digitizer.  

Specific Requirements are as follows:

Minimum technical specifications for the shaker

1. 1. Number of start inputs: 1 minimum
   2. Number of stop inputs: 5 minimum
   3. Minimum time resolution: 100 ps
   4. Counting rate: 1MHz minimum
   5. Hardware Interface: USB/Ethernet preferred
   6. Software Interface: Windows API/DLL
   7. Zero dead time to allow for pulse width measurement (minimum width 1ns)
   8. Input electrical range: -2V to 3V, 50 Ohm terminated

This shall be provided and accomplished in accordance with these specifications.

NAICS Code is 334515 –Instrument Manufacturing for Measuring and Testing Electricity and Electrical Signals, with a Size Standard of 750 employees. NIST anticipates negotiating and awarding a firm-fixed-price purchase order to Quantar Technology Incorporated for this requirement.

Interested parties that can demonstrate they could satisfy the requirement listed above for NIST must clearly and unambiguously identify their capability to do so in writing on or before the response date for this notice. This notice of intent is not a solicitation. Information submitted in response to this notice will be used solely to determine whether competitive procedures could be used for this acquisition. If competitive procedures are not used it is estimated that an award will be issued by 8/12/2023. Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to angela.hitt@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted to angela.hitt@nist.gov no later than the date and time provided herein this posting.

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AN OPEN COMPETITION:

Market research resulted in Quantar Technology Incorporated being the only vendor that can supply a multiple-even time digitizer.  As part of their neutron detector system, which includes data acquisition electronics and software, the multiple-event time digitizer, model MCS8A-5-T1, is the only approved digitizer that is currently integrated with Denex software on the updated neutron detectors. NIST requires a vendor capable of providing a drop-in digitizer for a straightforward out-of-the-box upgrade to our DENEX high-resolution neutron detector. Failure to process this request would cause NIST not to be able to get complete non-equilibrium measurements for the vSANs instrument.