NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE - Bruker BRAVO Raman Handheld Spectrometer

IntroductionThis is a notice of intent, not a request for a quotation. A solicitation document will not be issued and quotations will not be requested.PurposeThe National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) intends to negotiate a firm-fixed priced purchase order on a sole source basis with Bruker Scientific, LLC located at 19 Fortune Lab, Billerica, MA. The purchase order will be for the purchase of a Bruker BRAVO Raman Handheld Spectrometer.AuthorityThis acquisition is being conducted under the authority of FAR Subpart 13.106(b)(1) allowing the Contracting Officer (CO) to solicit from one source. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this acquisition is 334516 –Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing with a size standard of 1,000 employees. DescriptionA handheld Raman spectrometer is critical to the mission for three separate programs of the Infrastructure Materials Group in the Engineering Laboratory (EL) at NIST.  A handheld Raman

spectrometer is used for the characterization of materials in the field before and after long-term weathering or hazard events. Field-based Raman characterization is needed to obtain molecular bonding information in order to classify materials and understand degradation modes.  Specifically, the “Engineered Materials for Resilient Infrastructure” program involves the field characterization of infrastructure materials, including weathered polymers, polymer composites, and concrete. The “Earthquake Risk Reduction” program investigates the durability and field performance of fiber reinforced composites (e.g. “Reliability of Fiber Reinforced Composites in Infrastructure” project). Additionally, the “Net Zero Energy Research” program requires the field characterization of solar panel materials within solar arrays at NIST and at different sites across the United States.To meet the unique needs of NIST stakeholders and support the requirements of EL’s three research programs, the Bruker BRAVO Raman Handheld Spectrometer is required as it is the only spectrometer  identified with a complete 3200 cm^-1 to 300 cm^-1 spectral range, dual 785 nm and 852 nm laser excitation for fluorescence mitigation, and 2 cm ^-1 resolution. Furthermore, it has a patented, built-in wavelength calibration that ensures >0.5 cm -1 wavelength accuracy. This unique, built-in wavelength calibration is essential for NIST’s work which will require high wavelength accuracy. In addition, it is the only system on the market with a class 1 laser safe system, the safest laser class. Additionally, the output data format for Bruker’s handheld Raman instruments is fully compatible with the in-house benchtop Bruker Senterra II Raman microscope OPUS software; this will enable identical data analysis capabilities on the benchtop Raman microscope and the handheld Raman spectrometer. This will permit comparison of field data to laboratory data and comparison of historical laboratory benchtop Raman data to field data collected with the new handheld Raman spectrometer.  These capabilities are mission critical for EL’s research programs.The Raman handheld spectrometer is manufactured by Bruker Scientific, LLC and the technology is proprietary to the company.  Bruker Scientific, LLC does not authorize resellers for the instrument.  Accordingly, only Bruker Scientific, LLC is capable of supporting this requirement and a sole source acquisition is necessary.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 Ms. January Magyar, Contract Specialist, at January.Magyar@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted via email to January.Magyar@nist.gov so that they are received no later than December 13th at 10:00 AM Eastern Time.Each response should include the following Business Information:Contractor Name, Address,Point of Contact Name, Phone Number, and Email addressContractor DUNSContractor 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 register in the SAM located at http://www.sam.gov/portal/SAM/#1Capability Statement