Active

Contract Opportunity

Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) are an official government contracting resource for small businesses. Find your local PTAC (opens in new window) for free government expertise related to contract opportunities.

RFI Number: N00173-23-RFI-MB33

Title: High repetition rate wavelength-tunable ultrafast amplified laser system

Posting Date: 09/14/2023

Response Date: 09/21/2023

Primary POC: Name: Michael Broomfield; e-mail: Michael.broomfield@nrl.navy.mil

NAICS: 334516 – Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing

NOTE: THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION OR AN INDICATION THAT A CONTRACTUAL COMMITMENT WILL EXIST AS A RESULT OF THIS RFI. This Sources Sought Notice (SSN) is in support of market research and procurement planning being conducted by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Washington, DC. This SSN is for informational and planning purposes only and does not guarantee that this will be competed via FedBizOpps. The Government assumes NO financial responsibility for any costs incurred. A solicitation package is not available at this time.

Contracting Office Address: NRL, 4555 Overlook Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20375

OBJECTIVE: The intent of this RFI is to gauge industry interest and search for potential sources capable of fulfilling a requirement for a high repetition rate wavelength-tunable ultrafast amplified laser system in accordance with the following technical requirements. The Government is currently in the planning stages for this procurement and may continue to modify the language within the requirement as necessary. These specifications do not necessarily represent the final specifications.

The ultrafast laser system must meet the following specifications:

The full system must consist of two integrated light sources: A) a high laser pulse repetition rate ytterbium-based pump laser operating at a fixed wavelength of 1030 nm, which enables B) a wavelength-tunable optical parametric amplifier (OPA).

Pump laser requirements:

1. The pump laser pulsewidth must be shorter than 100 fs at all pulse repetition rates, as determined by the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the laser intensity profile.

2. The pump laser repetition rate must be user-selectable from 1 Hz to 200 kHz.

3. The average laser power must achieve 20 Watts (W) at the 50-200 kHz pulse repetition rates.

4. The spatial profile of the pump laser must be near Gaussian and satisfy the metric: M2

5. The pulse-to-pulse energy stability must be less than 0.5% based on the root mean square deviation from the average pulse energy.

6. The stability of the pulsewidth must be less than 5 % based on the root mean square deviation from the average pulsewidth, as determined by the autocorrelation method.

7. The beam pointing stability must be less than 20 micro-radians

8. The specifications described in items 4-7 must be met in the lab environment with temperature fluctuations of up to ± 2 degrees Celsius.

9. The laser cooling system must allow for both air-cooled and water-cooled options.

OPA requirements:

1. The OPA must be compatible with a 1030 nm 100 fs pump laser operating at 200 kHz and 20 Watts.

2. The transform limited pulsewidth of the OPA must be less than or equivalent to the pump laser pulsewidth.

3. The wavelength tunability must cover the NIR-VIS-UV from 320 nm to 2600 nm.

4. The peak conversion efficiency must be greater than 7% at 700 nm and greater than 2% at 350 nm.

5. The pulse energy at the peak conversion wavelength must be at least 15 microjoules when pumping the OPA with 20 Watts at 100 kHz.

6. The wavelength setting of the OPA must be computer software controlled.

7. The pulse-to-pulse energy stability must be less than 1.0 % based on the root mean square deviation from the average pulse energy.

General:

1. All specifications must be demonstrated by a qualified company engineer at the time of the laser system installation

2. The proposed high repetition rate femtosecond laser system must include delivery of the hardware to the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC; and installation and training.

Training shall include all documented manuals that ensures NRL personnel are proficient in operating the laser system.

CONTRACTOR RESPONSE FORMAT: Interested parties, at a minimum, shall supply all of the below required information in a Capability Statement. (Reference RFI N00173-23-RFI-MB33 in your response)

CONTACT INFORMATION:

a. Company Name and Address

b. Point of Contact for questions/clarification

c. Telephone Number and e-mail address

d. DUNS Number, CAGE Code

e. PSC Code of the proposed solution (SEE https://psctool.us)

f. Business Size/Socioeconomic Categories

TECHNICAL INFORMATION:

a) List of capabilities/resources relevant to the above specification list.

1. COMMERCIALITY OF PROPOSED ITEM

a) Whether item(s) offered/proposed is a commercial item and is customarily used by the general public or non-government entities for the other than Government purposes.

b) Whether the item has been sold, leased, or licensed to the general public, and if so, identify one or more such sales, leases, or licenses to document the commerciality of the item.

1. PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
   
   a) Provide a description of how the proposed product will meet or exceed each of the specifications as it is anticipated that ultimate evaluation will be lowest priced technically acceptable and a go/no go basis.

b) Provide a product brochure and highlight the areas that meet or exceed specifications.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT DETAILS:

Responses should be no more than 10 pages.

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: NRL-DC and Contractor Facility

Attachments/Links