Megahertz Picosecond Laser System and Optical Parametric Oscillators

Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

[ACAN# 24-58003]

[Megahertz Picosecond Laser System and Optical Parametric Oscillators]

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 Security and Disruptive Technologies Research Centre collaborates with Canadian and international research labs, industry and academia to build the emerging technology platforms that will sustain Canada’s industrial competitiveness. NRCs team of researchers are experts in quantum photonic, cutting-edge security materials technologies and attosecond science. The Security and Disruptive Technologies Research Centre provides new platforms that can be applied in a wide range of industries in technology areas such as nanotechnology, quantum technologies, electronic materials, and additive manufacturing. Its team works with key collaborators in both industry and in other research organizations to accelerate the development of innovative technologies, validate technologies for robustness and manufacturability, work with defence and security partners as early adopters of disruptive technologies, and help reduce risk and lead time to turn innovation into products.
The National Research Council (NRC) of Canada has a requirement for a megahertz picosecond laser system and optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) for its ultrafast quantum photonics facilities on Sussex Dr. in Ottawa. This MHz picosecond laser system and optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) will expand our single-photon generation capabilities and enable new experiments in quantum sensing, communication and processing. The OPOs are broadly tunable over a wide spectral range from the visible to the shortwave infrared, providing significant flexibility for research purposes. These systems will be used to expand our knowledge base, train highly skilled workers, and enable technology development in quantum sensing, quantum communications, and quantum information processing.
3. Statement of Capabilities Evaluation Criteria - Minimum Essential Requirements):
Each interested supplier shall demonstrate through a Statement of Capabilities that its product/equipment/system (as appropriate) meets the following requirements:

3.1 Interchangeability between systems, must be fully compatible between systems, must work with Applied Physics & Electronics Systems megahertz picosecond laser system and optical parametric oscillators (OPOs).

3.2 Comparability of research data, must be fully compatible between vendor software and NRC designed research measurement software.

3.3 Must be a fully automated mode-locked ytterbium fiber-based picosecond laser, with a repetition rate of 80 MHz (± 0.15 MHz), wavelength: 516 nm (± 0.75 nm), average fiber ("pump") laser output power: > 7.0 W, pulse width: ~ 2.0 ps, *unique*, spectral bandwidth: < 0.5 nm (< 20 cm^-1), 7. Polarization: linear; vertical;

3.4 OPO signal wavelength range must be at least 640-960nm;

3.5 OPO idler tuning range must be at least 1120-2300nm;
4. This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s):
4.1 Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA);
4.2 Revised World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP);
4.3 Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA);
4.4 Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP);
4.5 Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA);
4.6 Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement;
4.7 Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement;
4.8 Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement;
4.9 Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement;
4.10 Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA);
4.11 Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement (Canada-UK TCA);
4.12 Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA);
5. Set-aside under the Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business:
5.1 This procurement is not subject to a set-aside under the PSAB.
6. Comprehensive Land Claims Agreement(s):
6.1 This procurement is not subject to any CLCAs
7. Justification for the Pre-Identified Supplier:
7.1 Applied Physics & Electronics (APE) is the exclusive owner (OEM) of the IP of the laser system and the only known supplier that can meet the requirements listed in Section 3 and the only supplier that can provide an interchangeable system between new and existing systems. NRC operates two APE Levante Emerald OPOs, an identical setup with two Levante Emerald OPOs is required as part of a research expansion project. The equipment should be identical to ensure interchangeability between systems, comparability of research data, and compatibility with existing equipment. Only the proposed supplier has exclusive rights to the system in question and the system currently in use at NRC. Due to IP ownership and exclusivity, they are the only known vendor that can meet this requirement.
8. Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s) applied to this requirement:
8.1 The following exception(s) to the Government Contracts Regulations is invoked for this procurement under subsection 6(d)
(d) only one person is capable of performing the contract.
9. Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons:
9.1 Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) – Article 513 (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
9.2 World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) – Article XIII (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
9.3 Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) – Article 19.12 (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
9.4 Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – Article 15.10 (2) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
9.5 Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) – Article Kbis-16 (2) (c): necessary to protect intellectual property;
9.6 Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement – Article 1409 (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
9.7 Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement – Article 17.11 (2) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
9.8 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;
9.9 Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement – Article 16.10 (1) (b) (iii): because of the absence of competition for technical reasons;
9.10 Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA) –Article 1409 (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
9.11 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
9.12 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).
10. Ownership of Intellectual Property:

10.1 No intellectual property will be generated as a result of this procurement. Ownership of any foreground intellectual property resulting from the proposed contract will remain with the contractor.

11. Period of the proposed contract or delivery date:
11.1 The laser system is scheduled for delivery on or about August 2024, or 8 to 10 weeks after the vendor receives the order. SHIPPING: EXW Germany, typically 8 to 10 weeks after receipt of order. Actual ship dates may vary due to complexity, manufacturing schedules, and potential delays by regulatory agencies such as Customs.
12. Name and address of the pre-identified supplier:
Applied Physics & Electronics Inc.
27119 NE Bradford Rd
Vancouver, WA 98682
USsales@ape-america.com
http://www.ape-america.com

13. 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.
Closing date for a submission of a statement of capabilities.
14. The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is June 18 2024

15. Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to:
Lou Helbling
Senior Contracting Officer
1200 Montreal Rd, Bldg. M-55
Ottawa, Ontario,
Email:luiz.helbling@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Tel:343-630-4187