Sources Sought: Widely-Tunable IR Lasers

Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) are an official government contracting resource for small businesses. Find your local PTAC (opens in new window) for free government expertise related to contract opportunities.

The National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) seeks information on vendors that can provide commercial lasers with tunable wavelength over a wide range, where their respective ranges overlap by a specified amount. These lasers will be used to interrogate micro- and nanophotonic waveguides and cavities for the precision measurement of displacement.

NIST is seeking information from sources that may be capable of providing a commercial item solution that meets or exceeds the following draft minimum specifications:

The tunable lasers must have a mode-hop free range that is at least 100 nm wide. The tunable laser must include the power and control electronics for locking the laser to an optical resonator. Specifically, the control electronics must include proportion-integral-derivative (PID) controllers and algorithms for locking to the top and side of an optical resonance. The controller must have an interactive screen for selecting operational modes, setting parameters, visualizing optical resonances of an optically interrogated cavity as the laser tunes, and selecting resonances for locking. The controller must be fully digital with 24 bit inputs for the best control resolution. The laser must also include a single mode fiber coupled output. The laser wavelength must be tunable using a coarse motion stage, a piezoelectric motion stage, and the laser diode current. These tuning methods must be able to operate simultaneously. The laser and power and control electronics must meet or exceed the following specifications:

1. Mode-Hop Free Wavelength Range:
   
   
   
   1. Laser 1 - at least 100 nm wide and centered at 1550 nm
   
   
   2. Laser 2 - at least 100 nm wide and centered at 1500 nm
   
   
   
   

Note: The following specifications apply to both lasers, Laser 1 and Laser 2.

1. Nominal power: at least 25 mW across wavelength range


2. Typical linewidth:
   
3. Beam polarization: Linear > 100:1


4. Fiber coupling efficiency: > 50%


5. Optical isolation efficiency: > 60 dB


6. Optical isolator transmission: > 70%


7. Piezo optical frequency scan range: at least 30 GHz


8. Maximum wavelength scan speed: > 8 nm/s


9. Smallest possible change in laser frequency:
   
10. PID controller bandwidth: > 25 kHz


11. Modulation frequency for resonance locking: Up to 150 kHz

SEE THE ATTACHED DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS.