USAFA Dilution Refrigerator Source Sought

SOURCES SOUGHT: THIS IS NOT A NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR QUOTATION BUT INFORMATION AND PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY! This notice does not constitute a commitment by the Government. All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary and the Government will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the Government.

The Request for Quotation (RFQ) number is FA700025Q0022 and shall be used to reference any written responses to this source sought.

The Physics Department and the Laser and Optics Research Center at USAFA have a requirement to purchase a 3He4He dilution refrigerator, which is a physics research device capable of reaching very low absolute temperatures, down to 10 mK, for our program of solid state silicon quantum computing research. This expansive research investigation requires a way to put individual Si or P atoms on a Si substrate, and characterize them, which can only be done with a dilution refrigerator.

SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS/REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATIONS:

At a minimum, the Vendor must be able to supply a dilution refrigerator with the following characteristics:

• reaches a temperature of 10 mK or less


• cooling power of at least 500 µW at 100 mK


• solenoid magnet with a field of at least 1 T


• magnet is cryogen free


• magnet has bore 4 inches or larger


• magnet power supply included


• vibration isolation to less than 20 nm


• turbo molecular pump for vacuum pumping


• sample space volume of at least 30 L


• operates without external refilling of liquid nitrogen


• system dimensions no more than 2.0 x 1.4 m horizontal and no more than 2.1 m height

Include in your capabilities package your SAM UEI, Cage Code, System for Award Management expiration date, and any related specifications/drawings.

Purpose: The Dilution Refrigerator is necessary for the department's program of solid state silicon quantum computing research, specifically for creating and studying quantum computing qubits.

Market research is being conducted to determine interest, capability, and socio-economic category of potential sources for the requirement. The government requests interested parties submit a brief description of their company's business size (i.e. annual revenues and employee size), business status (i.e., 8(a), Historically Underutilized Business Zone, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, woman-owned small business, veteran-owned small business, or small business) anticipated teaming arrangements, and a description of similar services offered to the Government and to commercial customers.

All interested firms shall submit a capabilities package to both contacts for this requirement listed in the details of this announcement by email. Please provide information that explicitly demonstrates company capabilities-indicating examples of commercial sales-and product specifications related to this effort. Also, identify the manufacturer of the product(s) to be offered.