Automated Polarization Rotators and Tomography Equipment

This is a Notice of Proposed Contract Action under FAR Part 12 Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services, 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 QUOTATION. No contract will be awarded on the basis of offers received in response to this notice. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 334515 (Instrument Manufacturing for Measuring and Testing Electricity and Electrical Signals) with a small business size standard of 750 employees.

The Government requires the procurement of Automated Polarization Rotators and Tomography Equipment, and intends to negotiate a sole-source award for this requirement with Oz Optics Limited, 219 Westbrook Road, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, KOA 1L0. Relevant Oz Optics part numbers and associated product descriptions for the required items are as follows:

Item 1 – P/N: MQA-1550-9/125-S-PP-PBS-60-3U3U-2-2 / qty. 3 each

Custom motorized polarization rotators pigtailed with fibers.

Item 2 – P/N: MFPR-11-11-1550-9/125-S-S-3&2&3-60-3U3U-3-1 / qty. 6 each

Precision motorized Fiber Polarization Rotator with two rotatable zero-order quarter wave plates separated by one rotatable zero-order half wave plate aligned at 1550 nm operating wavelength.

Item 3 – P/N: MFPR-11-11-795-5/125-S-S-3&2&3-50-3U3U-3-1 / qty. 1 each

Precision motorized Fiber Polarization Rotator with two rotatable zero-order quarter wave plates separated by one rotatable zero-order half wave plate aligned at 795 nm operating wavelength.

Item 4 - MFPR-11-11-1310-9/125-S-S-3&2&3-60-3U3U-3-1 / qty. 1 each

Precision motorized Fiber Polarization Rotator with two rotatable zero-order quarter wave plates separated by one rotatable zero-order half wave plate aligned at 1310 nm operating wavelength.

The Government has determined that other companies’ products and services do not meet or cannot be modified to meet the Government’s needs. Previously, in 2024, RITQ purchased Oz Optics branded automated polarization equipment, which is currently in use in its fiber-optic quantum network testbed. As experiments have increased in scale and complexity, the need for additional automated polarization equipment has emerged. To the extent that RITQ researchers have already devoted approximately 160 personnel hours toward developing custom software to integrate the existing Oz Optics branded automated polarization equipment into the quantum network testbed, it is imperative that additional automated polarization equipment be of the same brand in order to avoid duplication of both effort and cost. Introduction of an alternate brand of automated polarization equipment into the quantum network testbed at this point would negate months of effort already invested into integrating Oz Optics branded equipment into the quantum network testbed. Interchanges with Oz Optics have yielded that they do not maintain a network of resellers for their products and are therefore the sole-source provider of the required items. For these reasons, the Government has determined Oz Optics to be the sole-source provider for the required automated polarization equipment.

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 tiffany.slopka@us.af.mil. Responses 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 15 March 2025.

A Sole Source Justification will be attached to the subsequent Notice of Award in accordance with applicable regulation.