High-Efficiency Low Dark-Count Single Photon Detection System

THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPART 12.6-STREAMLINED PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATION AND SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS-AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED; AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION DOCUMENT ( I.E. STANDARD FORM ) WILL NOT BE ISSUED. This solicitation is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2020-07. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the requirement is 334516 – Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing. The small business size standard is 1,000 employees. This is an unrestricted open market RFQ. Simplified acquisition procedures will be utilized. BACKGROUND INFORMATION The mission of the Quantum Optics Group of the Quantum Measurement Division is to develop and characterize measurement methods that take advantage of the quantum nature of light so as to achieve better performance, uncertainties, and to enable new applications that are not possible with classical methods. Typically, these measurements are of single quantum states, and thus are done in very low-light environments. Therefore, one of the most important aspects of Quantum Measurement Division’s research is the photon arrival time detection and photon number statistics for probing these states of light. As a result, NIST requires a high-efficiency, low-noise single photon detection system compatible with the Quantum Measurement Division’s measurements of faint and/or nonclassical sources. NIST will use the single photon detectors to characterize the output of faint classical sources, single photon sources and sources of exotic quantum light, with applications ranging from classical and quantum telecommunication networks, in-situ source recognition and classification, and quantum effects in biological systems. NOTE: Reference attachments for complete solicitation.