1. Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)
An ACAN is a public notice indicating to the supplier community that a department or agency intends to award a contract for goods, services or construction to a pre-identified supplier, thereby allowing other suppliers to signal their interest in bidding, by submitting a statement of capabilities. If no supplier submits a statement of capabilities that meets the requirements set out in the ACAN, on or before the closing date stated in the ACAN, the contracting officer may then proceed with the award to the pre-identified supplier.
2. Definition of the requirement
2.1 The National Research Council’s Security and Disruptive Technologies Research Centre works with Canadian and international research labs, industry, and academia to develop the cutting-edge technology platforms that will sustain Canada’s industrial competitiveness. The team of researchers at this institution is highly skilled in the fields of quantum photonic technology, cutting-edge security materials technologies, and attosecond science.
The Security and Disruptive Technologies Research Center provides new platforms that can be applied across a wide range of industries in technology areas such as nanotechnology, quantum technologies, electronic materials, and additive manufacturing. The team works with key collaborators in industry and other research organizations to accelerate the development of innovative technologies, validate technologies for robustness and manufacturability, collaborate with defense and security partners as early adopters of disruptive technologies, and help reduce the risk and lead time to turn innovations into products.
2.2 The National Research Council (NRC) of Canada has a requirement for a kilohertz femtosecond laser system and an optical parametric amplifier (OPA) for its ultrafast quantum photonics facilities located at 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6. This laser system will expand the research center's capabilities in the generation and manipulation of quantum states of light. The OPAs provide high-power, broadband light pulses that can be tuned over a wide spectral range from the visible to the shortwave infrared, providing significant flexibility for specialized research purposes. This system will be used to expand our knowledge base, train highly skilled researchers, and enable technology development in quantum sensing, quantum communication, and quantum information processing.
The Femtosecond Laser laboratories within the Security and Disruptive Technology Research Centre currently operates seven Light Conversion OPAs, a 40W Carbide/Orpheus OPA laser system, and an 80W Carbide laser system.
Significant investment has been made in the development of electronics and specialized research software to integrate the control software with the in-house developed data acquisition suites. The acquisition of this new system from Light Conversion would allow NRC to fully utilize the existing equipment manufactured by Light Conversion USA. Light Conversion USA owns the intellectual property rights between the proposed system and the existing systems. The system is fully compatible in terms of data comparability of specialized research methodologies and interchangeability among the seven existing systems. Installation and training is provided by the contractor.
3. Criteria for assessment of the Statement of Capabilities (Minimum Essential Requirements)
3.1 The system must meet all of the general requirements as specified below:
1. 20-Watt Ytterbium-(Yb) based femtosecond amplifier;
2. Repetition rate tunable between 1kHz-200kHz;
3. Optical Parametric Amplifier (OPA), built around the amplifier’s specification, to generate wavelength tunable femtosecond pulses between 630nm-2600nm;
3.2 Pump Laser
1. 1030 nm Fundamental Output;
2. 20 W max output power (at 10kHz - 200 kHz);
3. 2 mJ/pulse max output energy (at up to 10 kHz);
4. < 190 fs fundamental pulse duration;
5. 1 kHz - 200 kHz base rep rate
6. Integrated pulse picker to effectively divide the repetition rate
7. Control laptop with a preloaded extensive software package
8. Air Cooled chiller
3.3 High-Power OPA
1. 630 – 1030 nm (signal) and 1030 – 2600 nm (idler);
2. Input energy and rep rate: 20 mJ (20 W @ 10 kHz);
3. Output pulse duration: 120-190fs
3.4 Certified by the Canadian Standard Association (CSA) or the Underwriters' Laboratories of Canada (ULC) standards certification.
3.5 All equipment to be powered by standard North American 120VAC/60Hz supply.
4. Applicability of the trade agreement(s) to the procurement
This procurement is subject to the following trade agreement(s):
1. Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA);
2. Revised World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP);
3. Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA);
4. Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP);
5. Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA);
6. Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement;
7. Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement;
8. Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement;
9. Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement;
10. Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA);
11. Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement (Canada-UK TCA);
12. Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA)
5. Government Contracts Regulations Exception(s):
5.1 The following exception to the Government Contracts Regulations is invoked for this procurement under subsection 6(d) - "only one person is capable of performing the contract".
6. Exclusions and/or Limited Tendering Reasons
The following exclusion(s) and/or limited tendering reasons are invoked under the:
1. Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) – Article 513 (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
2. World Trade Organization - Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) – Article XIII (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
3. Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) – Article 19.12 (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
4. Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) – Article 15.10 (2) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
5. Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) – Article Kbis-16 (2) (c): necessary to protect intellectual property;
6. Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement – Article 1409 (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
7. Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement – Article 17.11 (2) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
8. Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement – referencing the WTO Protocol Amending the GPA, Article XIII (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
9. Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement – Article 16.10 (1) (b) (iii): because of the absence of competition for technical reasons;
10. Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA) –Article 1409 (1) (b) (iii): due to an absence of competition for technical reasons;
11. Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) – Annex 10-6 (2) (a): any form of preference, including set asides, to benefit micro, small and medium enterprises; and
12. Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement: refer to CETA as the provisions of CETA are incorporated by reference into and made part of this Agreement. (CETA) Article 19.12 (b) (iii).
7. Period of the proposed contract or delivery date
Projected delivery date is 44 weeks from Contract Award.
8. Name and address of the pre-identified supplier
Light Conversion USA 201 South Wallace, Suite B-2C Bozeman, Montana 59715
9. Suppliers' right to submit a statement of capabilities
Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the goods, services or construction services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.
10. Closing date for a submission of a statement of capabilities
The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is July 3rd 2024.
11. SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION
The Sole Source is in accordance with the Limited tendering reasons contained in the trade agreements, in this case the CFTA the requirement contains multiple limited tendering reasons to support a non-competitive procurement solicitation.
(b) Where the goods can be supplied only by a particular supplier and no reasonable alternative or substitute goods exist for any of the following reasons (Exclusive Rights and Technical reasons);
(c) for additional deliveries by the original supplier of goods that were not included in the initial procurement where a change of supplier for such additional goods (Interchangeable Parts): cannot be made for economic or technical reasons such as requirements of interchangeability or interoperability with existing equipment, software, installations procured under the initial procurement; and would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the procuring entity;
Light Conversion USA owns the intellectual property rights between the proposed system and the existing systems. The system is fully compatible in terms of data comparability of specialized research methodologies and interchangeability among the seven existing systems. Installation and training is provided by the contractor.
