set of replacement parts for existing Precision Scan dye laser

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’s Aerospace Research Centre's gas turbine facilities has a requirement for the supply and delivery of (one) Sirah Precision Scan dye laser, (one) Quanta Ray Nd: YAG Laser, (one) LG-LIFT-30 grating, (one) THU-205-N third harmonic generator, (one) wavelength separation unit, and one set of replacement parts. These requirements are for optical diagnostic equipment for studying gas turbine combustion systems such as fuel injectors and sprays, combustors and burners, and compressor and turbine passages. This equipment will be used to maintain and expand NRC’s intellectual property conducted through research for industry clients, research partners and academia.

This requirement is for an additional delivery of an identical system from the manufacture of NRC’s existing Sirah Precision Scan Dye Laser and software. The equipment is fully compatible meaning no alterations between the proposed equipment and the existing equipment are required. Both pieces of equipment operate on a single software platform manufactured by Sirah Precision Scan.

3. Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a statement of capabilities that its product/equipment/system (as appropriate) meets the following requirements:

(a) Sirah Precision Scan dye laser:

• Resonator Gratings ruling plane must be vertically mounted to protect against dust build up and stray beams. The resonator is mounted horizontal therefore. The dye laser must be pumped with the right polarization to obtain good conversion. (polarization optimized)
• Resonator must be mounted on thermally stable stainless-steel plate and mounted independently of the laser housing. It decouples the resonator from mechanical stress of the laser housing and allows easy and quick resonator exchange. Calibration and configuration parameters must be stored on the driving electronics of the resonator assembly. Connecting the resonator electronics to the laser system must be detected automatically by the system
• Resonator must have the possibility to change the grating in grazing position without re-adjustment. An automated grating exchange mechanism (grating lift option) so that gratings with different groove densities can be used. This option allows for gap free tuning with high efficiency over a large tuning range
• Between resonator and preamplification there must be an ASE-cleaning optics to improve polarization and reducing ASE. These optics have to be designed for high power and the complete tuning range of the dye
• Resonator must feature precision sine-bar driven with high resolution direct drive stepper motor, no pulleys or gears, to eliminate backlash
• Resonator and system scan control software to be free and open source with updates readily available on the web
• System must have LabView® drivers / VI’s for control of dye laser system operation. A programmer’s guide must be provided
• System must incorporate interchangeable dye cells for simple and rapid dye exchange. System re-alignment shall not be needed after cell exchange. Exchange off cells must be tool free. Change of amplifier and resonator cells to take no longer than 2 minutes
• Dye laser must come with a touch-panel remote control to allow for stand-alone operation without additional computer
• Dye circulator must be quiet, compatible with non polar solvents (like Dioxan), and be capable of 1-100 Hz operation. For safety reasons, circulator must feature an illuminated main switch which indicates operation
• All critical manual dye laser adjusters must be top accessible to allow for adjustment from either side of the laser. The lid of the laser can be mounted on both sides of the laser housing so that the laser can be operated from both sides after flipping the lid
• Optional integrated frequency doubler must have Look-Up-Table and auto tracker option for scanning
• Dye laser should have modular options for non linear processes to cover 190 nm to 13 μm
• Modular system: each dye laser in the field can be upgraded or modified with exchangeable modules for resonator, amplifiers and frequency conversion units. Installed modules (except for the amplifiers) are automatically detected by the electronic system and the control software
• Easy switching of pump optics to allow quick change of pump laser wavelength. Double-Wavelength-Option
• Free (travel and accommodation excluded) factory trainings provided by the manufacturer

(b) Quanta Ray Nd: YAG Laser:

• The laser has dual-rod oscillators with two amplifier stages, enabling output energies up to 2.5 J per pulse at 1064 nm
• The laser should stabilize any thermal imbalance in the Nd:YAG gain medium eliminating fluctuations in output beam polarization
• intra-oscillator compensation for thermally-induced birefringence in the Nd:YAG rod, greatly reducing beam depolarization

(c) LG-LIFT-30 grating:

• The grating should be compatible and interchangeable with the current Sirah Dye laser system (model: PRSC-D-24) in the Gas-turbine laboratory at NRC Aerospace Research Centre
• The grating lift is compatible with 90 mm and 60 mm gratings, and can be fit into standards pulsed dye laser resonators
• The grating lift can be detected and controlled by the existing Sirah Control software in the Gas-turbine laboratory at NRC Aerospace Research Centre, and be handheld remotely
• Absolute wavelength accuracy < 20 pm
• Wavelength re-setability < 4 pm
• Wavelength stability < 2 pm/ °C

(d) THU-205-N third harmonic generator:

• The crystal should generate laser radiation in the UV wavelength range, from 197 nm to 260 nm, by third harmonic generation (THG).
• Energy output 1% of pump laser energy
• Linewidth approximately 1.73 x dye laser linewidth/ cm-1
• Output wavelength range: 197-260 nm
• Crystal tuning mode: Look-up table and auto-tracking
• Maximum pump energy 650 mJ with standard dye cell
• Dye Laser Resonator: 1800, 2400, and 3000 lines/mm grating
• Repetition rate of pump laser 10 Hz
• UV Beam polarization vertical, > 98%
• UV beam diameter 6 mm
• UV beam divergence: < 0.5 mrad

(e) Replacement parts:

• Guaranteed (long term) compatibility between older and newer versions of mechanics and optics

(f) Compatibility Requirements: List the equipment/software already owned, maintained that’s forward and backward compatible.

• The Gas-turbine laboratory currently owns a Sirah Dye laser (model: PRSC-D-24), and a Quanta-Ray double-pulse laser (PIV-400). Sirah Control v2.6 is used for wavelength scanning and crystal positioning for the dye laser.
o the Dye pumps must be interchangeable between the newly purchased Sirah Dye laser and the currently owned system
• Guaranteed (long term) compatibility between older and newer versions of software.

LG-LIFT-30 grating:
• The grating should be compatible and interchangeable with the current Sirah Dye laser system (model: PRSC-D-24) in the Gas-turbine laboratory at NRC Aerospace Research Centre
• The grating lift is compatible with 90 mm and 60 mm gratings, and can be fit into standards pulsed dye laser resonators
• The grating lift can be detected and controlled by the existing Sirah Control software in the Gas-turbine laboratory at NRC Aerospace Research Centre, and be handheld remotely

4. Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement:
• Canadian Free Trade Agreement

5. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier
Where the goods can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute goods (due to an absence of competition for technical reasons)

for additional deliveries by the original supplier of goods or services that were not included in the initial procurement where a change of supplier for such additional goods,

cannot be made for economic or technical reasons such as requirements of interchangeability or interoperability with existing equipment, software, services or installations procured under the initial procurement; and would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the procuring entity;

6. Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s):
Indicate all relevant exceptions under the Government Contracts Regulations (GCRs).
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. Ownership of Intellectual Property:

Ownership of any Foreground Intellectual Property arising out of the proposed contract will vest in the Contractor.

8. Period of the proposed contract:
One year after all deliverables have been reviewed and accepted by the NRC.
9. Name and address of the pre-identified supplier
Sirah Lasertechnik GmbH
Heinrich-Hertz-Str. 11
41516 Grevenbroich
Deutschland

10. 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.

11. Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities
Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to the Contracting Authority; all inquires must be made in writing.
Contracting Authority by email : Soles, Jonathan