NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE
Contracting Opportunities Announcement Type: Special Notice
Announcement Number: NB771030-25-02394
Subject: Swabian time tagging unit for single photon counting
Introduction
This is a notice of intent, not a request for a quotation. A solicitation document will not be issued, and quotations will not be requested.
Purpose
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate a firm-fixed priced purchase order on a sole source basis with Swabian Instruments USA, Inc. located at 4 Lucy St, Boston, MA 02125-2698. The purchase order will specifically procure one (1) TimeTagger 20 that is manufactured by Swabian Instruments, GmbH located in Germany. Delivery shall occur within 30 days after receipt of an order. The TimeTagger 20 will be used for single photon counting and will assist with NIST's research of developing a measurement test suite for quantum network component and protocol testing, verification, and characterization.
Authority
This acquisition is being conducted under the authority of FAR Subpart 13.106-1(b) allowing the Contracting Officer (CO) to solicit from one source. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334515 Instrument Manufacturing for Measuring and Testing Electricity and Electrical Signals with the small business size standard of 750 Employees.
Description
For a complete description of this requirement, please see the attached Specifications document.
Sole Source Determination
The sole source determination is based on the following:
The National Institute of Standards and Technology requires a Swabian 20 time tagging unit to be implemented into our quantum component measurement suite. In order to perform most state-of-the art measurements of most state-of-the art single photon devices, such as detectors and sources, the required dedicated time tagging unit shall allow determination of a single photon's arrival time. This time tagging unit shall allow NIST to characterize afterpulsing, dark noise and source response times. All these measurements have already been implemented in a similar system also using a Swabian 20 time tagger, and an extensive software and data acquisition library has been written by NIST researchers. Results would not be comparable to results produced from experiments using other time tagging units not produced by Swabian. The Swabian Time Tagger 20 is the only system that is compatible with this software and the existing research produced from it. A software change as a result of using a time tagging unit from other than one produced by Swabian would result in a significant time delay that would be required to achieve a fully operational unit able to be used with existing research. Per market research, no other sources exist that sell Swabian time tagging units. This sole source is a request to sole source the requirement direct to Swabian Instruments USA, Inc.
Swabian Instruments, GmbH authorizes one domestic (US-based) distributor to coordinate domestic sales for Swabian products. Swabian Instruments USA, Inc is the exclusive, authorized domestic distributor for the Time Tagger 20 manufactured by Swabian Instruments, GmbH. Swabian Instruments USA, Inc. and is located at 37R Juniper St, Roxbury, MA 02119-1750. The required Time Tagger 20 must be purchased directly from Swabian Instruments USA, Inc. and no other authorized resellers exist.
Information for Interested Parties
Interested parties that believe they could satisfy the requirements listed above for NIST may clearly and unambiguously identify their capability to do so in writing by or before the response date for this notice. This notice of intent is not a solicitation.
Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to Brian Jamieson, Contract Specialist, at Brian.Jamieson@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted via email to brian.jamieson@nist.gov so that they are received no later than July 24, 2025, at 12:00 PM, Eastern Time.
Each response should include the following Business Information:
- Contractor Name, Address,
- Point of Contact Name, Phone Number, and Email address
- Contractor DUNS
- Contractor Business Classification (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, hubZone, veteran owned, etc.) as validated in System for Award Management (SAM). All offerors must have an active registration in www.SAM.gov.
- Capability Statement
Background
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate a firm-fixed price purchase order on a sole source basis with Swabian Instruments USA, Inc., located at 4 Lucy St, Boston, MA 02125-2698. The purpose of this acquisition is to procure one TimeTagger 20 manufactured by Swabian Instruments, GmbH in Germany. This unit will assist NIST in developing a measurement test suite for quantum network component and protocol testing, verification, and characterization. The acquisition is justified as the Swabian Time Tagger 20 is the only system compatible with existing research software developed by NIST researchers.
Work Details
The contract involves the procurement of one (1) TimeTagger 20, which is an 8-channel streaming time tagging system with a resolution of 34 ps (rms jitter). The specifications for the Time Tagger 20 include:
- Fully self-contained and powered time tagging unit (includes power supply or powered through USB)
- At least 8 input channels with a maximum of 80 ps jitter full-width half-maximum (FWHM)
- A channel deadtime of less than 10 ns
- No crosstalk between channels
- Low (<10^-4) bin-width variation
- A full software development kit with programming examples for implementation into Matlab, Python, Labview, etc.
All items must be new; used or remanufactured equipment will not be considered. Delivery shall occur within 30 days after receipt of order to NIST's location at 100 Bureau Drive, Building 220, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1640.
Period of Performance
Delivery shall occur within 30 days after receipt of order.
Place of Performance
The delivery location is the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Building 220, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1640.
