femtosecond Yitterbium laser system

Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

[23-58185]

[femtosecond Yitterbium laser system]

1. Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.
2. Definition of the requirement
The National Research Council Canada has a requirement for a femtosecond Yitterbium laser system which must meet all of the mandatory technical requirements as specified below. The requirement must include all of the following:
(a) One femtosecond Yitterbium laser system in accordance with the technical
requirements listed below;
(b) The system must include software for the operation of the unit;
(c) The Contractor must provide installation;
(d) Manuals;
(e) Training
(f) Maintenance and Support Services
(g) Optional Equipment upgrades
(h) Optional Extended Warranty

3. Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that its system meets the following requirements:
The femtosecond Yitterbium laser system must satisfy the following technical requirements
Provide one output with the following technical specifications:
(1) wavelength centered between 1020-1040 nm;
(2) maximum pulse energy of 2 mJ with a pulse repetition rate from 0 – 10 KHz;
(3) maximum average power of 20 W with a pulse repetition rate tunable between 10 – 200 kHz; (4) The pulse repetition rate must be controllable by software from 0 – 200 kHz;
(5) Pulse duration less than 190 fs;
(6) Pulse duration tunable up to 10 ps;
(7) Autocorrelation trace optimized to achieve less than 20% of energy in the autocorrelation trace pedestal;
(8) Beam quality factor M2 less than 1.3;
(9) Beam pointing fluctuations less than 20 μrad/°C;
(10) Output pulse-to-pulse energy fluctuations less than 0.5% RMS over 24 hours;
(11) Beam quality optimized to achieve less than 20% of energy in the halo at the focus of 1 meter lens, and at +/- one Rayleigh range away from the focus;
(12) Carrier-Envelope-Phase (CEP) stabilization of the oscillator to a standard deviation less than 100 mrad, over a frequency range 0.1 – 100 kHz;
(13) CEP stabilization of the output to a standard deviation less than 350 mrad measured shot-to-shot;
The system must include:
1. Control laptop with installed control software;
2. External slow-loop CEP stabilization unit (f-to-2f interferometer);
3. Electronics for CEP stabilization;
4. Chiller unit;
5. Power supply;
6. All required electrical connectors and chilled-water supply connectors and tubes.

Unless otherwise approved by the NRC, the physical dimensions and weight of the system must conform to the following:

1. Width 747 mm x Depth 419 mm x Height 230 mm;

Power supply and delivery requirements:

1. 100-240V AC / 50-60Hz;
2. Power consumption less than 2 kW;
3. The Contractor must meet all applicable Canadian Standard Association (CSA) or Underwriters’ Laboratories of Canada (ULC) standards;
4. The system must include software to operate the laser
5. The Contractor must deliver, install, integrate, and configure all deliverables at the location specified in the Contract;
6. The Contractor must deliver 1 complete set of Documentation, in PDF and printed version, with the deliverables.
7. This documentation must include all publications pertaining to technical specifications, installation requirements and operating instructions.
4. Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement
This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s)
o Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA)
o Revised World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP)
o Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
o Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
o Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA)
o Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement
o Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement
o Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement
o Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement
o Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA)
o Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement (Canada-UK TCA)
o Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA)
5. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier
There are only a handful of manufactures of femtosecond Yitterbium lasers with mJ-class pulse energy (AMPHOS, TRUMPF Scientific, Amplitude). Of these, only LightConversion sells certified Carrier-envelope-phase stable lasers (Pharos line of products). In addition, other suppliers cannot be considered due to the required compatibility with a solution developed by a Canadian SME (Few-Cycle Inc.), within the framework of a 1M$ ISC contract (PSPC contract 31184-24177/001/SI), which also utilizes a Yitterbium laser from LightConversion.
6. Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s)

The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts Regulations is (are) invoked for this procurement under subsection 6(d) - "only one person is capable of performing the work").
7. Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons
The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the:
a. Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) – Article 513 (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
b. World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) – Article XIII (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
c. Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) – Article 19.12 (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
d. Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – Article 15.10 (2) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
e. Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) – Article Kbis-16 (2) (c): necessary to protect intellectual property;
f. Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement – Article 1409 (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
g. Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement – Article 17.11 (2) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
h. Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement – referencing the WTO Protocol Amending the GPA, Article XIII (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
i. Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement – Article 16.10 (1) (b) (iii): because of the absence of competition for technical reasons;
j. Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA) –Article 1409 (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
k. Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) – Annex 10-6 (2) (a): any form of preference, including set asides, to benefit micro, small and medium enterprises; and
l. Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement: refer to CETA as the provisions of CETA are incorporated by reference into and made part of this Agreement. (CETA) Article 19.12 (b) (iii).
9. Period of the proposed contract or delivery date
The equipment must be delivered by November 10th 2024.
10. Name and address of the pre-identified supplier
Light Conversion : 201 South Wallace, Suite B-2C | Bozeman, Montana 59715

11. Suppliers' right to submit a statement of capabilities

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the goods, services or construction services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

12. Closing date for a submission of a statement of capabilities
The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is January 3rd, 2023 at 2:00 pm EDT.
13. Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities
Name : Jonathan Soles
Title: Contracting Authority
Telephone: 343-548-9258
Email : Jonathan.Soles@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca