Picoquant Photonics North America Inc.

Picoquant Photonics North America Inc., based in Springfield, Massachusetts, manufactures and sells specialized photonics equipment—picosecond lasers, time-correlated single-photon counting modules, fiber-optic components, and related scientific instrumentation—to federal research agencies as a prime contractor on purchase orders, competing predominantly under full-and-open and total small business set-aside designations.

Picoquant operates as a for-profit corporation and competes as a small business, with 94 of 95 recent federal awards structured as prime contracts (99% of the portfolio). The company does not sit on major government-wide vehicles; the single parent vehicle in the source portfolio is an Information Analysis Center Multiple-Award Contract with one task order. Set-aside posture splits between full-and-open competition (the dominant path) and Total Small Business set-asides on a minority of awards.

Customer concentration centers on three civilian research agencies. The National Institute of Standards and Technology leads by award count with 32 awards (combined potential value $1.2 million), driven by recurring purchase orders for pulsed-diode laser systems, laser heads, and time-correlated single-photon counting modules supporting quantum networking and quantum materials research. The Office of Naval Research places 18 awards (combined potential value $1.6 million) for similar photonics equipment and microscopy upgrades at naval research facilities. The National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, and Office of the Director together account for roughly $1 million in combined potential value across ten awards. Across top-five customers, the two rankings diverge slightly: by award count, NIST dominates; by dollars, ONR edges ahead. Department of the Navy components (ONR, Bureau of Naval Personnel, and other Navy offices) collectively represent the largest single customer by potential value at approximately $2.4 million.

Picoquant's capability footprint aligns tightly with analytical laboratory instrument manufacturing (NAICS 334517, dominating 74 of 95 awards). Recent representative work includes a $236,083 Total Small Business purchase order from the Naval Research Laboratory (May 2026) for MT200 laser microscope upgrades, a $290,960 order from Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (March 2026) for advanced photonics equipment supporting time-resolved excitonic diffusion and quantum light characterization research, and a $61,693 Total Small Business order from NIST (September 2026) for a picosecond laser system operating at 775 nanometers with integrated laser controllers for quantum network applications. Additional examples include a $249,960 ONR order (December 2025) for MT200 equipment, a $48,817 NIST sole-source award (June 2024) for a pulsed-diode laser system with Sepia II software, and multiple sub-$50,000 NIST orders for diode laser drivers, time-correlated single-photon counting modules, and laser heads.

Activity has accelerated modestly in recent years—three awards in 2022, two in 2023, three in 2024, five in 2025, and seven in 2026 year-to-date—generating $6.2 million in combined potential value across the 95-award portfolio. Only two awards (combined potential value $91 thousand) complete in the next twenty-four months, presenting minimal near-term recompete exposure. Picoquant maintains a negligible subcontract footprint; one sub-award to Amentum Services (August 2025) covers microelectronics facilities research and development support for the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Strategic Microelectronics Division and Navy Strategic Systems Programs. Across the prime portfolio, Picoquant supplies point solutions—individual pieces of scientific instrumentation—rather than large-scale systems integration; purchase orders are structured as firm fixed-price transactions ranging from $15,000 to $300,000 with completion cycles of three to four months, characteristic of equipment procurement for established research labs.