Cryogenic Dilution Refrigerator & Installation   2

This is a Notice of Proposed Contract Action under FAR Part 12 Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures. This notice is for information only; a solicitation will not be issued. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 334516 with a size standard of 1,000 employees.

AFRL requires a Cryogenic Dilution Refrigerator, with on-site installation, lab layout design and commissioning to support ion trapping experiments. The Government has determined that other companies' products and services do not meet, or cannot be modified to meet the Government's needs.

The Government intends to negotiate a sole-source contract with: BlueFors Cryogenics Oy Ltd., Arinatie 10, 00370 Helsinki, Finland.

Under the contemplated contract, the Government requires:

Model BF-XLD400 Cryogen-Free Dilution System, which includes the following specifications:

• Base temperature < 10 mK (8 mK expected)
• Cooling Power > 14 W at 20 mK (16 mW expected)
• Cooling Power > 400 W at 100 mK (450 mW expected)
• Cooling Power > 575 W at 120 mK (650 mW expected)
• Cool-down time to base temperature 24 hrs (22 hrs expected)
• Includes heatpipe for fast cool-down, edge-welded bellow assembly for mounting pulse tube for reduced vibration amplitudes
• Pulse tube with dual PT415-RM cryo-refrigerator; PTR Voltage: 230V 3Ph 60Hz
• 8-channel resistive temperature controller; Four heater controls operational in manual or closed-loop mode, Intuitive device touchscreen and web interface, API enabled via ethernet connection
• Control Unit: Standalone control unit with 610 x 645 mm table size
• Sample Space: +100mm extension
• Radiation Shields: MXC shield: Sn plated copper
• RT Magnetic Shield: Cylindrical shield, with one end open and one end closed.
  • Hydrogen annealed for maximum permeability per Amuneal's Standard Annealing Cycle
  • Weight is approx. 15 kg (33.1 lbs)
• Standard sample space 235 mm from MXC flange to the Still Shield
• Mu-metal shield
• Optical access: 10 of 3 inches bossed optical port with blind flanges for a bottom and 9 horizontal configuration
• Set of 4 pcs of Spectrosil 2000 fused silica windows; 1x 40mm dia x 3mm thick and 3x 30mm dia x 2mm thick
• Basic Vibration Isolation package with an upgrade to heavy duty frame, adding machined aluminium top plate (~300 kg) for mounting the cryostat
• Frame Options: Active vibration damping relative to the cryostat support frame 1.2 Hz-200 Hz. Max load ~800 kg.
• AVI-400XL/LP active damping stage, operational range 1.2Hz-200 Hz.
• LFS-3, Low frequency sensor for vibration feedback between 0.1-1 Hz
• Extra Turbo: Pfeiffer HiPace80 vacuum turbo pump (30 l/s), for pumping vacuum can and/or service manifold
• 4K Heater Kit: Resistive heater at the 4K flange for faster warm-up
  • 40W (10 Ohm, 2A max)
  • All cabling and heat sinking
  • Integrated with system control software
• Long life cold trap additional internal cold trap for BF-LD/XLD series cryogen-free DR systems for extended long-run operation time
• System Option: LN2 Pre-Cooling Loop;
• RF Installation Set from RT to 4K; Vacuum flange with hermetic connector feedthroughs plus 2x thermal anchoring flanges with F/F bulkheads for 50K and 4K stages.
• RF Installation Set from 4K to MXC; 3x gold plated copper thermal anchoring flanges with F/F bulkheads for Still, Cold Plate and MXC
• Semi-Rigid Coaxial Lines:
• RT-4K Lines: SCuNi 0.86mm: Supply 1x 0.86mm SCuNi-CuNi attenuated semi-rigid co-axial line from room temperature connector box to the 4K flange. S-parameter test included
• 4K-MXC Lines: NbTi-NbTi 0.86mm: Supply 1x 0.86mm NbTi-NbTi non-attenuated semi-rigid superconducting co-axial line from 4K flange to MXC. S-parameter test is included
• Twisted Pair DC Lines:
  • TWP RT-4K Lines: Cu - Twisted pair experimental wiring (35 AWG copper)nfrom room temperature connector box (24-pin FISCHER) to 4K flange
  • TWP 4K-MXC Lines: NbTi 24 - Twisted pair experimental wiring (NbTi/CuNi) from 4K flange to MXC flange.
• Amplifier Wiring: 8 LNA - 16x twisted-pair wiring (35 AWG copper) from room temperature connector box (24-pin FISCHER) to 4K flange (nano-D)
• Optical Fiber Installation Set - RT break-out box with 8 blinded holes (M10/M12), Thermalization flanges at 50K, 4K, Still, CP and MXC stages
• Wiring and installation sets for DC, RF and Attocube positioners and scanners
• Attocube positioner xyz
• Single-mode optical fibers, optical fiber installation sets, and hermetic fiber feedthroughs
• Lab layout design, commissioning & on-site installation

BlueFors is the only known manufacturer whose Cryogenic Dilution Refrigerators include the Government's required sample size, cooling power, time to cool the system to base temperature, vibration isolation, dense RF wiring, location of the cooling system, and flexibility for optical access for the cryogenic system in order to accommodate the installation of a full cryogenic trapped ion setup. Additionally, this is the only known system that is customizable to accommodate optical access without compromising cooling power and vacuum capabilities.

This is a notice of proposed contract action and NOT a request for competitive proposals. However, all responsible sources may submit a capability statement or proposal, which shall be considered by the agency. All inquiries should be sent by email to Ashley.Ellinger@us.af.mil. Responses to this notice must be submitted by the date/time listed on the notice. Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government in future procurements.

Responses received will be evaluated; however a determination by the Government not to compete the proposed procurement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Government anticipates an award date on or before 30 June 2020.

A Sole Source Justification will be attached to the subsequent Notice of Award.