Solicitation - Dynamic Frequency Comb Applications Support IDIQ

The National Institute of Standards and Technology seeks an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract for Dynamic Frequency Comb Applications Support, with quotations due August 11 and questions due July 31. This is an unrestricted, small business–eligible commercial procurement under FAR Part 12.

Place of performance is Boulder, Colorado (NIST campus at Buildings 1 and 81, with administrative deliverables to 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 80305). Work is performed at the contractor's facility with required onsite testing and coordination meetings at NIST Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Mountain Time, with a minimum of three one-week site visits annually.

The contract spans a base year plus four one-year option periods. Work encompasses three primary task areas: Task 1, algorithms and digital implementation for real-time phase/timing control of optical frequency combs; Task 2, long-range optical time transfer via phase-controlled combs with 10 femtosecond timing accuracy for LEO satellite applications and optical communications up to 1 GB/s; and Task 3, phase-stepped dual-comb spectroscopy with 100 attosecond repeatability. Each task offers Standard and Accelerated versions with hour estimates ranging from 200 to 3,000 hours per year. Travel expenses are also included as a task line item.

The IDIQ carries a minimum value of $100,000 and a maximum of $7,500,000, with individual orders capped at $1,500,000 per CLIN or $2,500,000 for combined CLINs. Award will be single firm fixed-price. NIST will evaluate quotations on technical approach, key personnel qualifications, first task order proposal, and price, selecting the best-value quoter. The Key Personnel "Algorithm and Signal Processing Lead" must hold a Ph.D. in physics or electrical engineering, demonstrate over eight years of embedded systems and firmware development experience including digital signal processing, proficiency in VHDL, Verilog, C, C++, Python, and Matlab, and substantial prior experience with femtosecond electro-optic systems, FPGA/DSP platforms, free-space optical communications, and multiple simultaneous digital phase lock systems. All deliverables (code repositories, documentation, and progress reports) require GitHub submission with 95% unit test coverage and scientific publication-quality documentation. Contractor personnel requiring facility or IT system access must comply with HSPD-12 and obtain Tier I background investigations. Active SAM.gov registration is required at submission and must be maintained through final payment.