Contract · Federal

Combined Sources Sought Notice and Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract for an Optical Dilatometer with Heating Microscope Capability

Agency: COMMERCE, DEPARTMENT OF / NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY
Location: Gaithersburg, MD
Amount: Amount not listed
Posted: Jul 20, 2026
Set-aside: None (open competition)
NAICS code: 334516 look up NAICS codes

Timeline

Posted

Jul 20, 2026
Status

Closing soon

What contracts like this typically pay

No award history yet for this category (NAICS 334516).

What this contract is for

Agency: COMMERCE, DEPARTMENT OF / NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY
Location: Gaithersburg, MD
NAICS: 334516
Scope: Federal

This is a Combined Sources Sought Notice and Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract for an Optical Dilatometer with Heating Microscope Capability.

BACKGROUND The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is conducting market research to identify alternative sources that (a) are capable of meeting NIST’s minimum requirements for the following commercial products and commercial services and (b) would be interested in competing for that requirement.

The contractor shall deliver an optical dilatometer with heating microscope capability.

The equipment must be able to meet the following minimum specifications and include installation, training, and a minimum 1-year warranty: The system shall be a horizontal optical (non-contact) dilatometer that measures sample dimensional changes using a high-precision camera and optical imaging, without any mechanical contact with the specimen.

The system shall include an exchangeable optic for operation as an optical dilatometer with a resolution of 1 µm or better.

The system shall include an exchangeable optic for operation as a heating microscope with a resolution of 1 µm or better and a field of view of at least 1 x 1 cm.

The system shall include a MoSi2 furnace capable of operating from room temperature up to at least 1700 °C with programmable heating rates from 0.01 to 20 °C/min.

The system shall have a vacuum-tight sample chamber capable of achieving a pressure level of at least 0.1 Pa when used in combination with an appropriate vacuum pump.

The system shall include automatic gas control for at least 3 gases with mass flow controllers (MFC) in an external housing, enabling software-controlled atmosphere management for inert, reducing (up to 5% H2 mixtures), and oxidizing atmospheres.

The tube, heating elements, and ther...

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