Narrow Linewidth, Mode-hop-free Motorized Continuously Tunable External Cavity Diode Laser

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a Narrow Linewidth, Mode-hop-free Motorized Continuously Tunable External Cavity Diode Laser. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334516.    

BACKGROUND 

The Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division (MND) within the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Physical Measurement Lab (PML) develops integrated microsystems by advancing the state of the art in nanofabrication, thereby enabling the transfer of NIST measurement technologies to the industrial, academic, and government communities. The MND’s Nanofabrication and Measurement group performs cryogenic optical microscopy and spectroscopy measurements of solid-state defect quantum emitters in chip-based silicon nanophotonic structures. A motorized tunable external cavity diode laser for a wavelength range between at 760 nm and 790 nm is required for resonant photoluminescence spectroscopy of epitaxial GaAs quantum dots and transmission/reflection spectroscopy of nanophotonic cavities. High resolution, continuously mode-hop free laser wavelength scanning is required for optical spectroscopy of high quality (Q>1e6) nanophotonic optical cavities.  Narrow linewidths and the ability to lock to a reference cavity are required for addressing narrow (tens to hundreds of MHz) quantum dot.

General Requirements: 

The Contractor shall provide the following Detector and spectrograph for optical emission spectroscopy that meets the following minimum specifications:  

Technical Specifications

1. The system shall consist of a motorized external-cavity diode laser (ECDL) in a Littman-Metcalfe configuration or equivalent.
2. The system shall provide continuously tunable, single-mode and mode-hope free continuous-wave laser light in a wavelength range between 760 nm and 790 nm or wider. Better consideration will be given to systems that offer a wider continuous tuning wavelength range. Typical quantum dot ensembles have a wide distribution of emission wavelengths, for which a wider range of operation may be desirable. In addition, fabricated nanocavities may display resonances outside of the 760 nm to 790 nm range.  
3. The laser shall be single-frequency over the entire operating range.
4. The wavelength repeatability shall be of 10 pm or less.
5. The time-averaged laser linewidth over a period of 5 microseconds shall be of 20 kHz or less.  The laser drift over a period of 60 seconds shall be of 5 MHz or less.
6. The Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) background shall be 40 dB or more below the laser peak power.
7. The laser head shall have an integrated optical fiber coupler that allows simple, stable and repeatable laser light coupling into an optical fiber with single-mode operation within the operating range, with FC-APC connectors.
8. The output laser power available into a single-mode fiber with single-mode operation within the operating range shall be of 10 mW or higher over the entire tuning range, obtained through the integrated fiber coupler. Better consideration will be given to lasers offering higher fiber-coupled power. Higher powers are desirable for experiments in which unavoidably high losses are present in optical setups or devices under test.
9. The laser head should feature an integrated isolator providing 30 dB or more of optical isolation and transmission of 85 % or more over the entire laser operating range.
10. Motorized coarse wavelength tuning
    1. The system shall offer coarse motorized wavelength tuning over the entire range.
    2. The system shall offer motorized continuous mode-hop-free wavelength scanning over the entire range.
    3. The maximum continuous mode-hop free wavelength tuning speed shall be of 5 nm / s or more.  
    4. The motorized wavelength tuning minimum step size shall of 1 pm or less.
11. High resolution laser wavelength tuning and scanning
    1. The laser wavelength shall be tunable with no mode hops over a frequency range of 50 GHz or more, around any set wavelength within the specified range, with a maximum rate of 10 Hz or higher.
    2. The wavelength tuning resolution shall be of 50 kHz or less.
12. Laser Controller
    1. The laser system shall include a controller that allows control and readout of laser current, power, temperature from its front panel.
    2. The laser controller shall allow coarse (motor) and fine (piezo) tuning of the laser wavelength directly from its front panel.
    3. The controller shall allow the user to perform high-resolution, piezo scanning of the laser wavelength from the control interface. Scan parameters such as amplitude, frequency, shape and offset shall be adjustable directly from the controller’s front panel.
    4. The laser controller shall offer one or more analog voltage input and one or more analog voltage output.
    5. The controller shall be capable of using analog input signals for high resolution (piezo) control and scanning of the laser wavelength and applied current.
    6. In order to simplify experimental setups and unburden spectroscopic measurements of materials and devices, the laser controller shall offer the following capabilities from its front panel:
       1. Graphical visualization of internal or external (provided via the analog inputs) signals versus parameters such as laser wavelength, piezo voltage, operating time and others. The visualization interface shall offer control of plotting ranges and traces from the front panel.

1. 1. 1. The laser controller shall allow laser, from the front panel, locking (via Pound-Drever-Hall or equivalent techniques) to an external reference, with an internally generated locking signal and an externally generated error signal.
      2. The laser controller shall allow, from the its front panel, scanning and visualization of external reference resonances prior to locking, and also selection of lock points directly on resonance plots on the front panel.
   2. Computer control via USB or TCP/IP shall be provided.  All software (standalone and drivers for control via Python, Labview or Matlab) available for controlling the laser shall be provided.  Any software updates made within two years of purchase of the laser shall be provided without additional charge.

NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a solution that will achieve the objectives described above. 

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE 

In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. Please include only the following information, readable in either Microsoft Word 365, Microsoft Excel 365, or .pdf format, in the response:  Submit the response by email to the Primary Point of Contact and, if specified, to the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice.  Please note that to be considered for award under any official solicitation, the entity must be registered and “active” in SAM at the time of solicitation response. 

• Provide the complete name of your company, address, name of contact for follow-up questions, their email, their phone number and, if your company has an active registration in https://sam.gov, your company’s Unique Entity ID (UEI). 
• Identify the equipment that your company sells that can meet the objectives addressed in the BACKGROUND section of this notice.  For each product recommended to meet the Government’s requirement, provide the following: 
• Manufacturer name 

• Model number 

• Technical specifications 

• If your company is not the manufacturer, provide information on your company’s status as an authorized reseller of the product(s) 
• Describe performance capabilities of the product(s) your company recommends to meet the Government’s requirements.  Additionally, if there are other features or functions that you believe would assist NIST in meeting its objectives described above, please discuss in your response. 
• Discuss whether the equipment that your company sells and which you describe in your response to this notice may be customized to specifications and indicate any limits to customization. 
• Identify any aspects of the NIST market research notice, including instructions, and draft minimum specifications in the BACKGROUND section you cannot meet and state why.  Please offer suggestions for how the market research notice and draft minimum specifications could be made more competitive. 
• State whether the proposed equipment is manufactured in the United States and, if not, state the name of the country where the equipment is manufactured.  
• Identify any plans/possibilities for changes in manufacturing location of the aforementioned equipment and provide relevant details, including timeline. 
• For the NAICS code listed in this notice: 
• Indicate whether your company is (a) a small business or (b) other than small business.  See the Table of Small Business Size Standards and the associated .pdf download file for small business size standards and additional information. 
• If you believe the NAICS code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of product addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS code that you believe would be more appropriate for the planned procurement.   
• Describe services that are available with the purchase of the aforementioned equipment from your company such as installation, training, and equipment maintenance.  
• Describe standard terms and conditions of sale offered by your company for the recommended equipment such as: delivery time after your company accepts the order; FOB shipping terms; manufacturer warranty (including details regarding nature and duration); if available, description(s) of available extended warranty; equipment setup and test; operator and service instruction manual(s); cleanup after installation; and if applicable, other offered services.  Provide a copy of manufacturer standard terms and conditions that typically relate to the sale of the specified equipment, if available. 
• State whether your company offers facility renovation services related to installation of the recommended equipment at its delivery destination, if required per the NIST-identified minimum specifications, and provide description of said services.  Indicate if your company performs the facility renovation services or typically subcontracts the work to another company.  Indicate if your company would be interested in inspecting the intended installation site during the market research phase. 
• State published price, discount, or rebate arrangements for recommended equipment and/or provide link to access company’s published prices for equipment and services.   
• If the recommended equipment and related services are available for purchase on any existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts against which NIST may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information. 
• Identify any customers in the public or private sectors to which you provided the recommended or similar equipment.  Include customer(s) information: company name, phone number, point of contact, email address.  
• Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for NIST to know as part of its market research for this requirement. 
• State if you require NIST to provide additional information to improve your understanding of the government’s requirement and/or would like to meet with NIST representatives to discuss the requirement and the capabilities of the identified equipment. 

QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE 

Questions regarding this notice may be submitted via email to the Primary Point of Contact and the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice. Questions should be submitted so that they are received by July 26,2025. If the Contracting Officer determines that providing a written amendment to this notice to document question(s) received would benefit other potential respondents, the questions would be anonymized, and a written response to such question(s) would be provided via an amendment to this notice. 

IMPORTANT NOTES 

This notice is for market research purposes and should not be construed as a commitment by NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract.  There is no solicitation available at this time. 

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.  

NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. 

Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability.  

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.  

After a review of the responses received, a synopsis and solicitation may be published on GSA’s eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered an adequate response to any such solicitation(s). 

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