National Institute of Standards & Technology, Acquisition & Assistance Div., Bldg. 301, Rm B117, Gaithersburg, MD 20899

66 -- RESEARCH GRADE ULTRAVIOLET/VISIBLE/NEAR INFRARED SPECTROPHOTOMETER SOL 53SBNB8C1065 DUE 032798 POC Contracting Officer, Pauline E. Mallgrave -- (301) 975-6330, Contract Specialist, Tamara Grinspon -- (301) 975-4390 WEB: NIST Contracts Homepage, http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/contract.htm. E-MAIL: NIST Contracts Office, Contract@nist.gov. THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPART 12.6, AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION ; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED, AND A WRITTEN SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED. This solicitation, #53SBNB8C1065, is a Request for Quotation (RFQ). The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-03. The associated Standards Industrial Classification Code (SIC) for this procurement is 3826, and the small business size is 500 employees. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has a requirement for the following items: (0001) one each Perkin Elmer BV900NDO, or equivalent, Lambda 900 UV/VIS/NIR double monochromator, ratio recording spectrophotometer for 115/220 V and 50/60 Hz operation. Item 0001 shall be a Research Grade Ultraviolet/Visible/Near Infrared Spectrophotometer, and shall meet the following salient characteristics: double-beam, true double monochromator (not a pre-grating or double-pass monochromator), ratio recording, dispersive UV/VIS/NIR spectrometer with electronics controllable by WINTEL-compatible personal computer (not to be included) operating under the Windows 95 or Windows NT (NT 4.0 preferable) operating system; all reflecting optical system (silicon dioxide coated) with holographic grating monochromators; Littrow mounting, sample-thickness-compensated detector optics; prealigned tungsten-halogen and deuterium sources, photomultiplier detector for UV/VIS wavelength range and Peltier-cooled PbS detector for NIR. The unit shall operate in either single-beam or double-beam mode; sample and reference beams shall be interchangeable in double-beam mode; automatic attenuation in reference beam for high absorbance and stray light measurements. The unit shall have a focused optics design that provides a nearly collimated beam image through the length ofthe sample compartment (200 mm); maximal energy throughput by using collimating mirrors and gratings; double monochromator of the Littrow type combined to eliminate imaging errors while maintaining a sharp and straight slit image, thus providing high resolution; optical bench shall be plumbed to allow nitrogen purging in the monochromator and sample areas. The system shall include a common beam depolarizer, as well as programmable polarization over the entire spectral range for at least one beam. For wavelength scanning operation, the grating shall be stationary during signal acquisition and shall not be moved between corresponding measurements of the sample and reference beams. The grating shall move between one sample/reference reading pair and the next. The unit shall scan in either wavelength or wavenumber for the abscissa. The wavelength programming mode shall be able to accommodate at least 10 abscissa values. The system shall have the capability for making regular and total transmittance measurements,as well as absolute specular and relative diffuse and total reflectance measurements. Regular and total transmittance measurements shall be made using an integrating sphere on the detector; regular transmittance using the sphere shall require that the sample be mounted >10 cm from the entry aperture of the sphere. An automated cell changer for nine sample cuvettes with Peltier temperature control for 15 deg C to 45 deg C shall be included. The sample changer shall mount > 10 cm from integrating sphere. The unit shall include a large, removable sample compartment (260 mm wide minimum) with a useful light path of at least 200 mm to accommodate additional measuring techniques in the beam path and shall be of a generic-base-plate design featuring an optical bench work area with grid of 1/4-20 holes on 25.4 mm X 25.4 mm grid that allows use of standard optical components both existing and available from a variety of other sources to design schemes for making needed, but non-traditional, spectrophotometric measurements. A large sample/detector area to accommodate various optical setups and optical bench area shall be provided. The optical work area shall be easily swappable with other optical accessories and shall require a minimal amount of alignment after installation. Operation shall be possible with an open sample compartment /optical workbench area, as necessary, for adjusting the accessories to maximum energy; a detachable detector compartment shall allow substitution of different detectors and capability to design and use a detector that NIST may develop and to extend NIST's wavelength coverage for dispersive measurements. Prealigned deuterium and tungsten source lamps shall be required to permit lamp replacement by laboratory personnel at minimal expenditure of time. All open (non-detector-mounted) ports on each of the system's integrating spheres shall be fitted with appropriate LabSphere standard port frames. The vendor shall install the instrument upon delivery and shall provide operational training. Service and technical application support shall be provided from regional support personnel, as well as from the home office of the supplier. Service and support documentation (including optical and electronic schematics) shall be supplied. The unit shall have the following additional specifications: Wavelength Range: 185-3300 nm (with nitrogen purging down to 175 nm); Wavelength Accuracy: +/- 0.08 nm UV/VIS range and +/- 0.30 nm NIR range; Wavelength Reproducibility: <0.02 nm, UV/VIS range, <0.08 nm NIR range standard (<0.008 nm UV/VIS range and 0.04 nm NIR range, standard deviation for 10 measurements); Bandpass: 0.05 to 5.00 nm in 0.01 nm increments UV/VIS range, 0.2 to 20 nm NIR range in 0.04 nm increments; Fixed resolution, constant energy or slit programming; Photometric Range: +/- 6A; Photometric Linearity: Better than 1% at 3A measured with additive gray glasses or double aperture method; Photometric Accuracy: +/- 0.003 A at 1 A; +/- 0.003 A at 0.6A (measured with NIST filter 930D); Photometric Reproducibility: <0.0008 A standard deviation at 1 A (using NIST 930D filter, 546.1 nm, 2-nm slit, and 2 sec integration), <0.0004 A standard deviation at 0.5 A (using NIST 930 D filter at 546.1 nm, 2 nm slit and 2 sec integration), <0.00008 A standard deviation at 0 A (at 546.1 nm, 2 nm slit, and 2 sec integration); Absorbance Zero Stability: <0.0002 A after warm-up (500 nm, 0 A, 2-nm slit, and 2 sec. integration time); Baseline Flatness: +/- 0.001 A from 200 to 3000 nm (4 nm slit, constant energy mode in NIR, and 2 sec integration time). Stray Light: <0.00008% T at 220, 340, and 370 nm measured according to ASTM E-387 and with 1% T attenuator in reference beam, <0.0015% T at 1690 nm using chloroform at 4-cm pathlength, <0.0005% T at 2365 nm using chloroform at 1-cm pathlength. Noise Level: (4 nm slit, 2 sec integration time) <0.000050 A RMS at 500 nm and 0 A, <0.000160 A RMS at 500 nm and 1 A, <0.000300A RMS at 500 nm and 2 A, <0.000300 A RMS at 500 nm and 3 A, <0.001000 A RMS at 500 nm and 4 A, <0.000100 A RMS at 190 nm and 0 A, <0.00004 A RMS at 1500 nm and 0 A, <0.00010 A RMS at 1500 nm and 1 A, <0.00100 A RMS at 1500 nm and 2 A, <0.00500 A RMS at 1500 nm and 3 A. Additional items required by NIST under this acquisition shall be Perkin Elmer brand or equivalent, as follows: (0002) one each PELA1020 60 mm Integrating Sphere; (0003) one each B2205104 Cell Changer 9x9 Peltier, which shall include 2 cell holders, Peltier-controlled; (0004) one each B2205116 Lambda 900 Accessory Board; (0005) one each N1016001 VN Accy L900 Base Plate; (0006) one each N1016008 VN Accy L900 8 Deg Fixed Angle; (0007) one each B0501282 Common Beam Depolarizer; (0008) one each B0505530 Double Polarizer/Depolarizer Drive; (0009) one each B0505284 Polarizer Crystal for B050-5530; (0010) one each N1010520 Polarizer Assy-L900 UV; (0011) one each PELA1003 General Purpose Optical Bench; (0012) one each PELA1004 Diffuse Reflectance Accessory for The GPOB; (0013) one each QSPECIAL Special Univer. Generic Base Plate for Sample Compartment; and (0014) one each QSPECIAL Special Univer. Generic Base Plate for GPOB. Delivery is desired within 4 months after acceptance of order, and required within 6 months after acceptance of order. Delivery location is the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Building 301, Receiving Room, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-0001. The FOB Point shall be Destination, Gaithersburg, Maryland. The following FAR provisions apply to this solicitation: 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial; 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items. Evaluation Criteria to be included in paragraph (a) of provision 52.212-2 are, in descending order of importance, as follows: Technical capability to meet or exceed the Government's specifications, Past Performance (offerors shall submit evidence of prior contracts for comparable equipment and its successful operation), and Price. Technical evaluation criteria, when combined, are significantly more important than price. The Government will award a purchase order resulting from this combined synopsis/solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer, conforming to this synopsis/ solicitation, will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. All vendors are to include with their quotes, a completed copy of provision 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, which can be downloaded from http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/repcert.htm. The clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. The clause at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition, including subparagraphs (1) 52.203-6, Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government, with Alternate I; (2) 52.203-10, Price or Fee Adjustment for Illegal or Improper Activity; (3) 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns and Small Disadvantaged Business Concerns; (6) 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity; (7) 52.222-35, Affirmative Action for Special Disabled Vietnam Era Veterans; (8) 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Handicapped Workers; (9) 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans and Veterans of the Vietnam Era; (10) 52.225-3, Buy American Act-Supplies; (13) 52.225-18, European Union Sanction for End Products; (15) 52.225-21, Buy American Act, North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act-Balance of Payments Program; and Department of Commerce Agency-Level Protest Procedures Level Above the Contracting Officer, which can be downloaded from the NIST Web Page located at http://www.nist.gov/admin/od/contract/protest.htm . All interested, responsible business concerns should submit quotes, by 3:00 PM, Washington, DC time, on March 27, 1998, to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Acquisition and Assistance Division, Attn: Tamara Grinspon, Building 301, Room B117, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-0001. Faxed quotes will NOT be accepted. Copies of above-referenced clauses are available upon request, either by telephone or fax. (0072)

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