Temperature Sample Holder

Sources Sought Notice NIST-MML-23-SS26Project Title: Temperature Sample HolderThis is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. Requests for copies of a solicitation willnot receive a response.This Notice is to assist the government in determining if there are any domestic manufactured end product sources for the project title. This is not a Request for Proposal or Request for Quotation or an obligation on the part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for conducting a follow-on acquisition. NIST does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice, or otherwise pay for the information requested. No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of submission of responses to this Notice and NIST use of such information. NIST recognizes that proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary data

and present it as an addendum to the non-restricted/non-proprietary information. In the absence of suchidentification, NIST will assume to have unlimited rights to all technical data in the information paper.Requirement:NIST is seeking information on contractors who provide the following: Equipment Requirements • The sample holder shall be capable of heating and cooling a sample mounted between two plain glass slides, for light transmission optical measurements (scattering and microscopy). The holder shall be able to hold user-supplied slides that are dimensioned at least 15mmx15mm and at most 25mmx75mm. The heated area shall be at least 22mmx22mm.• These slides shall be held in place, so that the sample holder can be mounted vertically or in any orientation, while maintaining control of the sample temperature.• The transmission aperture shall be between 2 mm and 3 mm in diameter.• The portion of the sample covering the aperture shall be adjustable by translating the glass slides. The distance of travel shall be at least ±5 mm in each perpendicular direction.• The working distance for lens optics shall be no more than 6.5 mm on one side. The viewing angle on this side shall be at least ±45 degrees.• The working distance for lens optics on the other side shall be no more than 13 mm, with a viewing angle on this side that shall be at least ±17 degrees.• The temperature shall be controllable from 0 °C to 200 °C.• When a step change in temperature, heating, (for example, from T1 = 20 °C to T2 = 30 °C) is commanded, the measured temperature will of course experience a finite transient during a time period that shall be no more than ((T2-T1) + 30) seconds before being stable at the target temperature ± 0.2 °C. For the example of a temperature change of 10 °C therefore, stability at the target temperature shall be achieved within 40 seconds. After this transient time, the temperature shall remain within ± 0.2 °C of the target temperature, and variations in temperature shall continue to decrease until achieving steady state variations. These steady state variations shall be ± 0.1 °C or less, under ideal lab conditions.• When a step change in temperature, cooling, is commanded, the corresponding time before stability at the target temperature shall be no more than (2*(T1-T2) + 40) seconds.• The integrated temperature probe of the heating unit is capable of directly sensing the sample volume without affecting its temperature.• The heating of the sample shall be at a programmed rate which can be adjusted between 0.01 °C/minute and 50 °C/minute.• The cooling of the sample shall be at a programmed rate which can be adjusted between -0.01 °C/minute and -30 °C/minute.• The sample environment shall be enclosed and accessible with ports to the outside so that it shall be possible to use an atmosphere other than air, such as, for example, nitrogen, carbon dioxide mix, or moist air, inside the housing.Software • The sample holder functions shall be computer controlled, including with one (1) API so that NIST can program them all by python. Using this same API and software, the temperature readings for sample history record shall be at a frequency of at least 1 Hz.Interested parties shall describe the capabilities of their organization as it relates to the item described above. NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large andsmall businesses. The small business size standard associated with the NAICS code for this e􀀁ort, 334516- Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing with a small business size of 1000 employees. Please include your company’s size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice. After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed, NIST mayconduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a contract. Companies that can provide such items are requested to email a written response describing their abilities to erik.frycklund@nist.gov no later than the response date for this sources sought notice.The following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice:1. Name, Address, Government Unique Identifier number, CAGE code, and point of contact information of your company.2. Any information on the company’s small business certifications, if applicable.3. Description of your company’s capabilities as they relate to the item described in this notice.4. A description of your company’s previous experience providing the item described in this notice.5. Indication of whether the item described in this notice are currently ordered via your company’s GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts, Government-wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), or other existing Government-wide contract vehicles; and, if so, the contract number(s) for those vehicles.6. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in finalizing its market research.7. Place of Manufacture: Is more than 50% of item manufactured domestically, if not where is it manufactured?Responses are limited to a total of twelve (12) pages. The responses must be in MS Word format. Pages shall be 81⁄2-inch x 11-inch, using Times New Roman 11 Point Font. Each page shall have adequate margins on each side (at least one inch) of the page. Header/footer information (which does not include any information to be analyzed) may be included in the 1" margin space.