Sources Sought for High Power, Narrow Linewidth, Shot Noise Limited Laser

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION AND SOURCES SOUGHT FOR PLANNING PURPOSES (a) The Government will not pay for the information submitted in response to this notice. (b) Although “proposal” and “offeror” are used in this Request for Information and Source Sought Notice, your response will be treated as information only. It will not be used as a proposal. (c) This notice is issued for the purpose of obtaining information to serve as market research and to find contractors capable and interested in a possible future procurement to assist in the development of a procurement strategy.

The Government seeks potential sources for the procurement of two (2) continuous wave, high power, narrow linewidth, shot noise limited lasers for use in microwave photonics applications. Both lasers must meet or exceed the following threshold (T) or objective (O) requirements using a pure oscillator configuration without further optical amplification: average power exceeding 180 mW (T) or 250 mW (O); instantaneous Lorentzian linewidth less than 20 Hz (T) or 10 Hz (O); 1/f linewidth less than 2 kHz (T) or 1 kHz (O) when measured over 1 ms; single mode signal-to-noise ratio exceeding 85 dB (T) or 90 dB (O) when measured over 0.05 nm spectral resolution bandwidth; relative intensity noise no larger than -175 dBc/Hz (T) or less than -175 dBc/Hz (O) at all frequencies between 500 MHz and 40 GHz; frequency modulation noise less than 1 Hz^2/Hz (T) or less than 0.01 Hz^2/Hz (O) when measured at 2 GHz; side mode suppression ratio exceeding 80 dBc (T) or 85 dBc (O); electrical power consumption no more than 40 W (T) or less than 40 W (O); volume (including all electronics) no larger than 500 cm^3 (T) or less than 450 cm^3 (O).

As a result of issuing this RFI and Sources Sought Notice, the Army expects to receive information from potential offerors who possess the capability to deliver the lasers to Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, AL. Interested parties should submit white papers not to exceed five (5) pages, not including the title page. Minimum font size in the white paper should be 12 points. Potential offerors’ responses to this RFI should include the following: (1) a brief description of the offeror, (2) a brief description of products and specifications provided by the offeror, and (3) the type(s) of customer service and product support issues that can be corrected by the offeror. 

For questions regarding this RFI, please contact the Government contracting POC, Jimmy W. Creech, jimmy.w.creech.civ@army.mil.

All questions must reference RFI number W31P4Q-25-Q-0013 and be submitted via email no later than 3:00 PM Central Standard Time (CST) on 7 May 2025, to the contractual point of contact, Mr. Jimmy W. Creech, jimmy.w.creech.civ@army.mil; telephone requests for addition information will not be honored. Question submittals must also include Company name, Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code, and appropriate point of contact information.

Please provide your response in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format. In addition, include RFI number W31P4Q-25-Q-0013.

The Government will acknowledge receipt only if requested with the submission. Please do not submit any classified information. All information submitted shall be adequately safeguarded from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with FAR Part 15.207. The Government may request further clarification or request presentations to enhance the Government’s understanding of the respondent's submittal. THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT INTEND TO AWARD A CONTRACT ON THE BASIS OF THIS REQUEST FOR INFORMATION OR OTHERWISE PAY FOR THE INFORMATION SOLICITED. No award is intended as a result of the RFI. Information submitted in response to this RFI is submitted at no cost to the Government and will not be returned. In the event you have difficulty reading this RFI, please contact Jimmy W. Creech, jimmy.w.creech.civ@army.mil for a copy of this notice.