---
title: "CAN - Optical Frequency Comb"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-042e73"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-042e73"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-042e73.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-042e73.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY"
published: "2024-02-09"
---

# CAN - Optical Frequency Comb

Buyer: NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-042e73

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## Summary

The National Physical Laboratory has awarded a contract for an optical frequency comb for comparison of optical clocks over a short fibre link. The procurement process was completed on 9th February 2024. The main procurement category is goods, and the procurement method used was a limited tender procedure without prior publication of a call for competition. The buying organisation is located in Teddington, United Kingdom. The awarded contract is valued at £510,158.06 and was signed on 31st January 2024.

This tender for an optical frequency comb provides an opportunity for businesses involved in laboratory, optical, and precision equipment to compete. The award criteria included technical aspects and cost considerations, with emphasis on quality. The successful supplier was Menlo Systems GmbH, a large-scale company based in Martinsried, Germany. The contract, which is currently active, is part of the National Physical Laboratory's commitment to cutting-edge research in the scientific sector, offering potential for business growth and collaboration in the field of metrology.

## Notice

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.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

An optical frequency comb for comparison of optical clocks over a short fibre link Qty: 1

Options: 12. OPTIONAL ITEM: The supplier should quote separately for any frequency counters used to achieve the mandatory requirements. Any frequency counters required to monitor the stability of the comb itself should be labelled as such and offered separately to those which are used for monitoring other signals, e.g. beat notes with external CW lasers. 13. OPTIONAL ITEM: In relation to the mandatory requirement 19 above, an optional extension to shift the ultrastable microwave output to the Cs primary standard frequency near to 9.2 GHz should be quoted for separately.

### Procurement Information

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.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/004372-2024 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Goods |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 9 Feb 2024 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 15 Dec 2023 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £1,098,258 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY |
| Locality | TEDDINGTON |
| Post town | Twickenham |
| Postcode | TW11 0LW |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI7 Outer London - West and North West |
| ITL 3 | TLI75 Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames |
| Local authority | Richmond upon Thames |
| Electoral ward | Teddington |
| Westminster constituency | Twickenham |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | MENLO SYSTEMS |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 38 - Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)

### Codes

- 38000000 - Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)

## Release History

- 9 Feb 2024 at 10:36 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/004372-2024
- 19 Jan 2024 at 12:13 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/001905-2024

## Notice URLs

- http://www.npl.co.uk

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-042e73. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-042e73.json.