Sources Sought Notice for NMR Gaussmeter

The purpose of this sources sought notice is to conduct market research and identify potential sources of commercial products/services that satisfy the Government’s anticipated needs.

BACKGROUND

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML), Nanoscale Device Characterization Division, Advanced Electronics Group intends to purchase a gaussmeter whose operating principle is the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) of protons. Additionally, the gaussmeter must be calibrated and traceable to international standards. 

A primary strategic focus of the division involves exploring the chemical and physical nature of atomic-scale defects in materials. Chief among these materials is diamond; including applications exploiting its wide bandgap properties for power electronics and its ultra-stable defect entities for use in quantum sensing applications.

The division is currently undertaking an effort to develop diamond-based magnetometers for magnetic field sensing. A critical aspect of this program is the precise measure of the electronic g-tensor of a specific diamond-based defect entity, the nitrogen vacancy (NV) center. Our ability to measure this quantity directly relates to our ability to calibrate the magnetic field of our magnets. Thus, we require an ultra-sensitive NMR gaussmeter. Additionally, our program requires that our measure of g-tensor be SI traceable and thus requires an SI-traceable measure of magnetic field.

The primary purpose of this acquisition is to measure magnetic field in an ultra-sensitive and SI-traceable manner by exploiting the nuclear magnetic resonance of protons. This unit will serve to measure and verify against international standards the magnetic fields of our existing magnet infrastructure. The ability to perform this is ultimately directly related to the sensitivity and traceability of the diamond-based magnetometers currently under development.

NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing an NMR gaussmeter that will achieve the objectives described above, and meet the following essential minimum required technical specifications:

1. The gaussmeter shall operate on the principle of nuclear magnetic resonance of protons.
2. The gaussmeter shall be a standalone instrument that does not require integration or requirements of any other systems.
3. The gaussmeter shall have a precision of less than 0.01 parts per million in a stable magnetic field of 1.5 T.
4. The gaussmeter shall have an accuracy of plus or minus 5 parts per million that is independent of temperature.
5. The gaussmeter shall have a maximum field gradient of at least 1 mT per cm.
6. The gaussmeter shall have an operating frequency range covering at least 1 MHz to 1 GHz.
7. The gaussmeter shall have the ability to accept interchangeable probe heads for measuring a variety of different magnetic field ranges.
   1. The gaussmeter shall come furnished with one such probe head that shall
   2. Cover the magnetic field range of 200 mT through 500 mT.
   3. Include a remote passive measurement head in which the electronic components are separated from the active measurement area of the probe.
   4. Be sized such that the remote passive measurement area of the probe will fit into a space 1.5 mm x 9.5 mm.
8. The gaussmeter shall be calibrated and must
   1. Be traceable to standards maintained in accordance with international agreements and the SI system of units.
   2. Include a calibration certificate stating
      1. The instrument, serial number and date of calibration.
      2. The entity performing the calibration.
      3. Standards utilized.
      4. Measurement methods.
      5. Measurement results that include uncertainty.
          

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE

In responding to this notice, please DO NOT PROVIDE PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. Please include only the following information, readable in either Microsoft Word 365, Microsoft Excel 365, or .pdf format, in the response:  Submit the response by email to the Primary Point of Contact and, if specified, to the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice as soon as possible, and preferably before the closing date and time of this notice.  Please note that to be considered for award under any official solicitation, the entity must be registered and “active” in SAM at the time of solicitation response.

• Provide the complete name of your company, address, name of contact for follow-up questions, their email, their phone number and, if your company has an active registration in https://sam.gov, your company’s Unique Entity ID (UEI).

• Identify the equipment that your company sells that can meet the objectives addressed in the BACKGROUND section of this notice.  For each product recommended to meet the Government’s requirement, provide the following:
  • Manufacturer name
  • Model number
  • Technical specifications
  • If your company is not the manufacturer, provide information on your company’s status as an authorized reseller of the product(s)

• Describe performance capabilities of the product(s) your company recommends to meet the Government’s requirements.  Additionally, if there are other features or functions that you believe would assist NIST in meeting its objectives described above, please discuss in your response.
  • Discuss whether the equipment that your company sells and which you describe in your response to this notice may be customized to specifications and indicate any limits to customization.

• Identify any aspects of the NIST market research notice, including instructions, and draft minimum specifications in the BACKGROUND section you cannot meet and state why.  Please offer suggestions for how the market research notice and draft minimum specifications could be made more competitive.

• State whether the proposed equipment is manufactured in the United States and, if not, state the name of the country where the equipment is manufactured.

• Identify any plans/possibilities for changes in manufacturing location of the aforementioned equipment and provide relevant details, including timeline.

• For the NAICS code listed in this notice:

• • Indicate whether your company is (a) a small business or (b) other than small business.  See the Table of Small Business Size Standards and the associated .pdf download file for small business size standards and additional information.

• • If you believe the NAICS code listed in this notice is not the best NAICS code for the type of product addressed in this notice, identify an alternative NAICS code that you believe would be more appropriate for the planned procurement. 
     
• Describe standard terms and conditions of sale offered by your company for the recommended equipment such as: delivery time after your company accepts the order; FOB shipping terms; manufacturer warranty (including details regarding nature and duration); if available, description(s) of available extended warranty; equipment setup and test; operator and service instruction manual(s); cleanup after installation; and if applicable, other offered services.  Provide a copy of manufacturer standard terms and conditions that typically relate to the sale of the specified equipment, if available.

• State published price, discount, or rebate arrangements for recommended equipment and/or provide link to access company’s published prices for equipment and services. 

• If the recommended equipment and related services are available for purchase on any existing Federal Supply Schedule contract(s) or other contracts against which NIST may be able to place orders, identify the contract number(s) and other relevant information.

• Identify any customers in the public or private sectors to which you provided the recommended or similar equipment.  Include customer(s) information: company name, phone number, point of contact, email address.

• Provide any other information that you believe would be valuable for NIST to know as part of its market research for this requirement.

• State if you require NIST to provide additional information to improve your understanding of the government’s requirement and/or would like to meet with NIST representatives to discuss the requirement and the capabilities of the identified equipment.

QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE

Questions regarding this notice may be submitted via email to the Primary Point of Contact and the Secondary Point of Contact listed in this notice. Questions should be submitted so that they are received 5 days prior to the response date. If the Contracting Officer determines that providing a written amendment to this notice to document question(s) received would benefit other potential respondents, the questions would be anonymized, and a written response to such question(s) would be provided via an amendment to this notice.

IMPORTANT NOTES

This notice is for market research purposes and should not be construed as a commitment by NIST to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. There is no solicitation available at this time.

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response.

NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate.

Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s capability.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.

After a review of the responses received, a synopsis and/or solicitation may be published on GSA’s eBuy or SAM.gov. However, responses to this notice will not be considered an adequate response to any such solicitation(s).

The responses shall not exceed 10 pages including all attachments, charts, etc.

Thank you for taking the time to submit a response to this request!