Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
National Physical Laboratory
Hampton Road
Teddington
TW11 0LW
Contact
Nina Heath
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
Other activity
Scientific Research
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
CAN - Optical Frequency Comb
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 38000000 - Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)
two.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
two.1.4) Short description
Comparison of optical frequency standards is essential for verifying that the clocks both locally and remotely at other national metrological institutes all agree to within their quoted uncertainties. These quoted uncertainties can be as low as ~1e-18, and so agreement between multiple clocks all operating at this level is required to verify that uncertainty. Remote clock comparisons at NPL, or between NPL and other European NMIs, are only possible at this uncertainty using optical frequency combs and telecoms optical fibre links to compare and transmit frequencies over long distances.
By using an optical frequency comb with the full flexibility to cover the 500 nm to 2000 nm wavelength range, the infrastructure will be in place to enable any of the likely candidates for an optical representation of the SI second to be compared over a short cross-site fibre link. The optical frequency comb will also require dedicated branches to link with the optical clocks and oscillators already available at NPL, these include the Sr+ at 674 nm, the Sr lattice at 698 nm, the Yb+ clocks at both 871 nm and 934 nm, and an ultrastable laser at 1064 nm.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Value excluding VAT: £510,158.06
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
An optical frequency comb for comparison of optical clocks over a short fibre link
Qty: 1
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: Technical / Weighting: 70%
Price - Weighting: 30%
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the regulations
Explanation:
Proposed procurement was very similar to the competitive tender purchase of Frequency Combs previously conducted by T&F/OFM earlier in 2021 and again in 2023, which were purchased to equip state-of-the-art test and evaluation laboratories both in Teddington and in Glasgow.
Because of this, OFM have now installed and commissioned several of these systems and invested a substantial amount of time in developing a full understanding of the system. At the time of the previous procurements, the Menlo system was evaluated to provide the most appropriate solution to the T&F needs by far. By purchasing a similar system from the same supplier, the embedded expertise in this system can be exploited, and subsequently interoperability of systems can be developed.
Based on the specification from the previous tender processes, the systems from other two bidders were found to be the only ones capable of demonstrably meeting the repetition rate tunability and the required flexibility in a turn-key system. None of the alternative suppliers could guarantee or demonstrate the specification at the required level. Menlo systems scored high on demonstrated performance systems integration and service.
Since we have tested the market twice in the past few years with the same outcome, we are confident that Menlo Systems is the only provider that can meet the expected requirements for our purposes.
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number: 2024/S 000-001905
four.2.9) Information about termination of call for competition in the form of a prior information notice
The contracting authority will not award any further contracts based on the above prior information notice
Section five. Award of contract
Title
An optical frequency comb for comparison of optical clocks over a short fibre link
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
31 January 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 1
Number of tenders received from tenderers from other EU Member States: 1
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Menlo Systems GmbH
Am Klopferspitz 19a, Bayern
Martinsried
82152
Country
Germany
NUTS code
- DE - Germany
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: £510,158.06
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
National Physical Laboratory
Hampton Road
Teddington
TW11 0LW
Telephone
+44 2089773222
Country
United Kingdom