Undoped RPE PPLN Waveguide

This is a Notice of Proposed Contract Action under FAR Part 12 Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services, and FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures.  This notice is for information only; a solicitation will not be issued. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTATION. No contract will be awarded on the basis of offers received in response to this notice. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 334516 (Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing) with a small business size standard of 1000 employees.
 

The Government requires the procurement of undoped RPE PPLN Waveguide and intends to negotiate a sole-source award for this requirement with AdvR, Inc., 31948 Frontage Rd, Bozeman, MT 59715-8642.

The applicable product descriptions and technical specifications are as follows:

ITEM 1:

Undoped RPE PPLN Waveguide chip for 493 nm to 716 nm; QTY = 1

-item must be unpackaged RPE PPLN waveguide chip for QFC at the single photon level

- inputs of 493nm and a pump with 1581nm should produce 716nm output with expected internal efficiency of at least 15000%/W pump power.

- item must be commercial offering and be both built and tested for an equivalent SFG interaction;

-facets must be angle polished for the above wavelengths

-crystal length: 4 cm or longer

-phase matching bandwidth: less than 70 GHz

-20 or more waveguides per chip

-first order periods for quasi phase matching between fundamental modes

ITEM 2:

TBAR coating 493/716/1581nm; QTY = 1

-TBAR coating at 493nm/716nm/1581nm on both angle polished facets of item listed in 1). above

ITEM 3:

Undoped RPE PPLN Waveguide chip; QTY = 1

-item must be unpackaged RPE PPLN waveguide chip for QFC the single photon level.

-inputs of 716nm with a pump at 1581nm must produce light with wavelength 1310nm with an internal efficiency of 3000%/W; -item must be commercial offering and be both built and tested for an equivalent SFG interaction;

-facets must be angle polished for the above wavelengths

-crystal length: 4 cm or longer

-phase matching bandwidth: less than 70 GHz

-20 or more waveguides per chip

-first order periods for quasi phase matching between fundamental modes

ITEM 4:

TBAR coating 716/1310/1581 nm; QTY = 1

-TBAR coating at 716nm/1310nm/1581nm on both angle polished facets of item listed in 3). above

ITEM 5:

Long TEC chip mount; QTY = 2

-long TEC chip mount to accommodate coated PPLN waveguides listed above

-controller not necessary

The Government has determined that other companies' products do not meet or cannot be modified to meet the Government's needs.

The Government requires the procurement of RPE PPLN Waveguide chips for ongoing research and development. AdvR, Inc. is the only known vendor that offers commercially available RPE PPLN Waveguide chips which meet the Government’s required technical and performance capabilities. These are standard items used in a wide variety of quantum frequency conversion applications, and the use of these items is a key part of AFRL's strategy to build quantum networks. While other manufacturers in the market offer RPE PPLN Waveguide chips, they lack compatibility of converting 493 nm light to the IR in a multistage difference frequency generation process. Additionally, the required RPE PPLN Waveguide chips from AdvR are compatible with previously procured equipment. If the required RPE PPLN waveguides are not acquired, development of an equivalent system would result in the research team missing crucial research deadlines and impede their ability to build heterogeneous quantum networks.

Given this information, the Government has determined that award to any source other than AdvR, Inc. would result in both a duplication of cost that is not expected to be recovered through competition and unacceptable delays in fulfilling the Agency's requirements.

This is a notice of proposed contract action and NOT a request for competitive proposals; however, all responsible sources may submit a capability statement or proposal, which shall be considered by the agency. All inquiries should be sent by email to jennifer.calandra@us.af.mil. Responses must be submitted by the date/time listed on the notice. Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government in future procurements.

Responses received will be evaluated; however, a determination by the Government not to compete the proposed procurement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Government anticipates an award date on or before XX August 2025.

A Sole Source Justification will be attached to the subsequent Notice of Award in accordance with applicable regulation.