NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE: Cesium Tubes

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Acquisition Management Division, intends to negotiate with Microsemi Frequency and Time Corporation (CAGE: 1B0C5), located in San Jose, CA, on a sole source basis under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b), soliciting from a single source to purchase two (2) high-performance cesium beam tubes. Microsemi Frequency and Time Corporation is the only known manufacturer of the products NIST requires, as described below.

NIST operates several 5071A cesium beam atomic frequency standards as part of the ensemble atomic time scale that generates the UTC(NIST) time and frequency standard. The 5071A’s cesium beam tube has a finite lifetime but can be replaced without purchasing an entirely new atomic clock chassis. At this time, NIST requires two cesium beam tubes to replace tubes that have failed. NIST will perform the installation of the new cesium beam tubes. Note: “high-performance” here is technical language and refers to two commonly-available variants of cesium beam-tube design. The “long-life” tube variant consumes cesium at a slower rate, at the cost of roughly a factor of 5 in timekeeping performance compared to the “high-performance” variant. The equivalent performance metrics are listed below as specifications.

The NAICS Code is 334515, Instrument Manufacturing for Measuring and Testing Electricity and Electrical Signals, with a small business size standard of 750 employees. NIST anticipates negotiating and awarding a firm-fixed-price contract to Microsemi Frequency and Time Corporation for this requirement.

Interested parties that can demonstrate they could satisfy the requirement listed above for NIST must clearly and unambiguously identify their capability to do so in writing on or before the response date for this notice. This notice of intent is not a solicitation. Information submitted in response to this notice will be used solely to determine whether competitive procedures could be used for this acquisition. If competitive procedures are not used, it is estimated that an award will be issued by July 23, 2023.

Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to aaron.ritter@nist.gov. All responses to this notice of intent must be submitted to aaron.ritter@nist.gov no later than June 9, 2023, at 10 a.m. MT.