Sources SoughtPosted Jul 16, 2026·Responses due Jul 23, 2026

Low-Power Dual-Comb Laser

Commerce (all) · DEPT OF COMMERCE NIST

Stage
Early notice (sources sought, presolicitation or special notice)
NAICS
334516
Value
Not stated
Solicitation
NB6750202602317
Set-aside
None stated
PSC
6625
Place
Boulder, CO, USA
Contact
Lia M Arthofer (lia.arthofer@nist.gov)
CSV Email

Capture briefs (a one-page, shareable copy of this page) are part of Pro. The CSV here holds the notice, its timeline and past awards.

Where this opportunity stands

Every notice posted under solicitation NB6750202602317 in this department, oldest first.

Early notice
  • Jul 16, 2026 · this notice
    Sources Sought
Solicitation
  • Aug 17, 2026
    Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
    Open
Award
Not yet. Typical award: Sep 11, 2026 to Nov 20, 2026, middle of the range Oct 4, 2026.
Measured from 19 past early notices at National Institute of Standards and Technology that later posted an award (middle half of cases, counted from Jul 16, 2026).

Next steps for this stage

Standard steps for the notice type; not advice about this buyer.

  • Answer the notice: this is when the requirement can still be shaped.
  • Contact the contracting officer named on the notice.
  • Check who won similar work; they are the likely bidders.

What the notice says

Request for Information/Sources Sought Notice for Providers/Suppliers for Low-Power Dual-Comb Laser Notice ID: NB675020-26-02317 Contract Opportunity Type Sources Sought Response Date: 7/23/2026 Product Service Code 6625�Electrical and Electronic Properties Measuring and Testing NAICS Code 334516 � Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing BACKGROUND This is a notice to request information from industry to help the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) determine the availability and capability of small businesses and other than small businesses… (show all)

to provide a low-power dual-comb laser for the Boulder, CO NIST site. This notice is strictly to request information for market research purposes to help NIST determine the appropriate acquisition strategy for this requirement. This notice shall not be construed as a solicitation, an obligation, or commitment by the NIST. OVERVIEW The NIST, Fiber Sources and Applications group; the critical technology for future fielded systems will be high performance, dual-frequency comb systems. In addition to achieving low relative phase noise by phase-locking to a common continuous wave laser, this dual comb system must also have low size-weight-and-power (SWAP) and the potential for future space operation. require a low-power dual-comb laser with an accurate noise characterization is critical for amplifiers and transistors. See attached draft specifications document. ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE NIST anticipates that it will require delivery for a low-power dual-comb laser that is similar to that in the draft specifications, 16 weeks after receipt of order. INFORMATION REQUESTED FROM INDUSTRY SOURCES: NIST invites industry sources to review this notice carefully and to familiarize themselves with the draft specifications document. Thereafter, by the closing date of this notice, NIST encourages those sources to submit responses to lia.arthofer@nist.gov. Do not include proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information in a response to this notice. Responses should be submitted to contain the following, in Microsoft Word format or in .pdf format, use 12-point font, with a page limitation of ten pages (excluding cover page and excluding standard commercial pricing information): Cover page, including: Sources Sought Notice number, title, and date of issuance Unique Entity ID Company name Company address Company website address Company points of contact and their phone number and email address Validation of company size status under NAICS: 334516 � Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing. See table of business size standards at https://www.sba.gov/document/support-table-size-standards for more information. Indicate whether your company has an active registration for procurement purposes in sam.gov. Provide any suggestions for NIST to consider for the draft specifications, with the goal of improving the draft specifications in a way that makes it clearer and as competitive as possible. Provide any suggested evaluation factors for award that your company believes would be meaningful for NIST to consider using for the forthcoming competitive acquisition. If your company has standard commercial pricing information (e.g., �catalog pricing�) for its standard commercial products/services, please provide a copy of it and explain what it includes. NIST will consider standard commercial pricing information to help it estimate a fair market price for the upcoming acquisition. Your company may also provide an estimate for the draft specification requirements if you would like to do so; however, do not include a quotation for the draft specifications requirements; a quotation submitted in response to this notice will not be considered. If your company is a small business for the NAICS code included in this notice, indicate whether your company can comply with FAR clause 52.219-14, Limitations on Subcontracting (OCT 2022), if this acquisition were to be conducted as a total small business set-aside and provide supporting explanation. See https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-52#FAR_52_219_14 for the full text of this clause. Indicate whether your company has a GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract or other federal contract under which NIST would be authorized to place an order and, if so, provide a copy of that contract (including contract number, name and contact information for contracting officer, contract SOW, contract terms and conditions and contract prices). The NIST reserves the right to follow up on a one-on-one basis with respondents to request additional information or clarifications about information submitted. Teaming Arrangements Firms seeking to respond to this notice as part of a team must include the above-requested information for each entity. Disclaimer Industry sources must provide information in response to this notice voluntarily, and for fully authorized use without limitation by NIST. This notice does not obligate NIST to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The NIST reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed. Information provided will be used to help NIST assess alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. Respondents are advised that NIST is under no obligation to provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received and other market research, NIST may publish a solicitation on SAM.gov or on GSA eBuy, depending on the approved acquisition strategy. Responses received after the closing date for this notice may not be considered for market research purposes.

Who won similar work

114 award notices on SAM.gov in the last 24 months. Match: Same office, same NAICS 334516.

WinnerAwardsValueLast
TECHNICAL COMMUNITIES, INC.6$1.5MOct 7, 2026
TOPTICA PHOTONICS INC6$614KOct 7, 2026
Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC4$2.7MSep 24, 2026
GOVERNMENT SCIENTIFIC SOURCE INC3$136KSep 22, 2026
BRISTOL INSTRUMENTS INC3$91KSep 24, 2025
Montana Instruments Corporation2$440KSep 8, 2026
STABLE LASER SYSTEMS INC2$277KSep 15, 2026
SPINNER ICT INC2$196KOct 7, 2026
LIQUID INSTRUMENTS INC2$176KSep 15, 2026
NKT PHOTONICS INC.2$48KSep 30, 2025

Value counts single-winner awards. "Shared" awards are multiple-award contracts that list every winner with the same total ceiling; that ceiling is not one company's win, so it is not added in.

Latest awards

Competitive landscape

For the 8 most frequent past winners above. Lobbying is matched by the company's exact name or exact ticker; agencies are as named on the filings.

  • 0 of these past winners lobbied Commerce, Dept of (DOC) since 2024 (0 filings)
  • 0 of their lobbyists list a past Commerce, Dept of (DOC) job
  • No corporate PAC money from them to the overseeing committees since 2024
  • 0 foreign-agent (FARA) registrations
See who and the source records with Pro

Policy around it

Bills the past winners named while lobbying this agency's issues, rules from the department, and executive orders that name the agency, last 12 months.

  • 0 bills named on the past winners' lobbying filings
  • 372 rules from the department in the last 12 months
  • 0 executive orders naming the agency in the last 12 months
See who and the source records with Pro

Market

For past winners matched exactly to a listed company. Insider trades are open-market buys and sells (Form 4) in the last 90 days, shown as facts; our own study found insiders do not reliably buy ahead of awards.

  • 0 of the past winners are listed companies
  • 0 insider buys and 0 insider sells at them in the last 90 days
See who and the source records with Pro

Sources: SAM.gov notices and award notices; Senate LDA lobbying filings; FEC filings; FARA; Federal Register; congress.gov; SEC Form 4. Every row above links to its record.

Companies are matched to tickers by exact name only. A company we could not match shows no market rows; that is a miss, not a finding.