Wavelength Swept Light Source for Photonic Thermometry

NIST-SS26-104

PLEASE NOTE THIS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY

Title: Wavelength Swept Light Source for Photonic Thermometry

BACKGROUND

The Fundamental Thermodynamics group at the Sensor Science Division is conducting Standard Photonic Thermometer (SPoT) project. The main focus of the project is to develop the next-generation chip-scale photonic temperature metrology that can replace Standard Platinum Resistance Thermometers (SPRTs), reduce the temperature calibration chain and sensor ownership cost.

The SPoT project, pursued by The Fundamental Thermodynamics group, is a multi-year/multi-million effort funded by both NIST-on-a-Chip (NOAC) and the United States Air Force. The timely achieving project’s milestones is NIST-mission-critical task and is one of the priorities of the Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML).

One of the essential milestones of Standard Photonic Thermometer is to develop cost-efficient and deployable photonic readout systems. To achieve these essential for the project milestones, the Fundamental Thermodynamics group has a critical need for one (1) high-speed swept laser. This instrument is essential for enabling scalable and practical solutions for next-generation temperature metrology.

The swept laser is mission-critical component in developing photonic readout for SPoT project. Delaying or not approving this procurement would directly hinder progress toward key milestones of the Air Force–funded project Photonic Thermometry for SPRT Replacement. Without the requested instrumentation, we risk catastrophic disruptions to ongoing work on the project, potential funding setbacks, and compromised deliverables. To ensure uninterrupted workflow and mitigate these risks, the procurement of high-speed swept laser is an absolute necessity.

Minimum requirements:

1. NIST requires one (1) high-speed swept laser.  The laser provide modulation output light centered at 1550 nm, with sweep frequency 150 Hz or more, tunable sweep range from 15 nm to 70 nm, and coherence length of 100 m or more. The contractor shall provide an instrument in accordance with the minimum specifications outlined below.

High-speed swept laser:

1.  The laser output should be CW, single, longitudinal mode oscillation with mode-hop free.
2. The laser output light should can be swept around a centered wavelength of 1550 nm ± 5nm.
3.  The swept range around the center wavelength should be tunable from 15 nm (or less) to 70 nm (or more). Wavelength change method – sinusoidal.
4.  Laser coherence length should be more than 100 m or more (Δλ=25 nm)
5.  Sweep frequency should be (150 ± 20) Hz or more.
6.  Average output optical power should be no less than 10 mW
7. The laser should have pre-aligned 9/125 μm single-mode fiber with FC/APC optical fiber output connector.
8.  The laser output should have trigger single output LVTTL, SMA interface
9. The laser should have USB control interface
10. The laser should have benchtop format.
11.  The software, Labview drivers, and Python scripts, necessary to operate the laser must be included.

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE

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QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE

Questions regarding this notice may be submitted via email to the Primary Point of Contact listed in this notice. Questions should be submitted so that they are received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on  April 13, 2026.  Questions will be anonymized and answered via sources sought notice amendment following the question submission deadline.

IMPORTANT NOTES

The information received in response to this notice will be reviewed and considered so that the NIST may appropriately solicit for its requirements in the near future. 

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Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request.