High Resolution Time Tagger

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) intend to negotiate a firm-fixed priced purchase order on a sole source basis with Swabian Instruments USA Inc. (UEI: F8RAZ9K3T169), located at 1127 Harrison Avenue Suite F Boston, MA 02119. The purchase order will specifically procure a high-precision 4-measurement channel Swabian Time Tagger.

Authority

This acquisition is being conducted under the authority of FAR Subpart 12.102(a) 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 a small business size standard of 750 Employees.

Description

In alignment with the 2026 NIST Strategy for American Technology Leadership in the 21st Century and the 2026 IMS Towards a Resilient Time Infrastructure Through Chip-Scale Optical Clocks, the NIST Information Technology Laboratory requires dedicated high-precision time measurement and control infrastructure enabling research and development for quantum networking as well as resilient time distribution. Time taggers provide high-precision time interval counting capabilities with associated software for data acquisition visualization and analysis. They can also be integrated into quantum networking applications research and development for single photon counting, coincidence counting, and other fundamental quantum network metrology protocols.

Sole Source Determination

The sole source determination is based on the following:

The NIST Information Technology laboratory owns and operates Swabian Instruments Time Taggers for research on quantum networking and precision timing measurements. NIST currently has a Swabian X Time Tagger and requires a duplicate system to expand the research testbed's capacity and to validate ongoing experimental measurements.

Only a Swabian X Time Tagger is capable of compatibility and equivalent capability with NIST's existing Swabian X Time Tagger system which on-going research activities are designed around. Use of any other system would jeopardize continuity and comparability of scientific data. Swabian Instruments USA Inc. does not authorize resellers of its proprietary equipment.

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 Collin Randall, Contract Specialist, at Collin.Randall@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted via email to Collin.Randall@nist.gov so that they are received no later than March 25, 2026, at 10:00 AM, Eastern Time.

Each response should include the following Business Information:

1. Contractor Name, Address,


2. Point of Contact Name, Phone Number, and Email address


3. Contractor SAM Universal Entity Identifier (UEI)


4. 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.


5. Capability Statement