Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2021-10-19
Buyer: Aarhus Universitet
Country: DK
Contract type: Supplies
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 33000000 | 38000000
Estimated value: 65000 EUR
Award criteria: Lowest price

Technical requirements: To enable simultaneous detection of all ion species created when intense femtosecond laser pulses ionizes molecules, we wish to buy a fast optical camera for nanosecond photon time stamping. The camera will record the light emitted from a phosphor screen backing a microchannel plate detector mounted on a velocity map imaging spectrometer.
My research concerns imaging molecules with femtosecond time resolution during fundamental physical processes and chemical reactions. The main experimental observables are ions and electrons, created when a femtosecond laser pulse ionizes a molecule. The ions and electrons are created inside a velocity map imaging spectrometer, that projects them onto a dual microchannel plate (MCP) detector backed by a phosphor screen. The light emitted from the phosphor is currently recorded by a CCD camera. For every charged particle hitting the MCP detector the phosphor screen emits a light glimpse and the CCD records the (x,y)-coordinates, from which we obtain the 2-dimensional velocity vector of the charged particle. For ion detection, the MCP detector is normally time-gated such that only one ion species, for instance fluorine ions, is detected at the time. In many of the experiments we conduct, there are often several different ion species produced and the simultaneous detection of all ion species would be tremendously valuable for the information content of the experiment.
To enable this more complete detection scheme we want to replace the CCD camera with a camera that in addition to detecting the spatial position (x,y) of each event, is also able to time stamp each event individually. We require that the time-resolution of this timing is better than 3 ns. Furthermore, the camera must be able to operate at a repetition rate of more than 10 kHz. Also, the pixel resolution on the sensor of the camera should be at least 250 x 250.
After exploring the market, it is our opinion there is only product that fulfills our requirement, namely the TPX3Cam from Amsterdam Scientific Instrument. The TPX3Cam offers a time resolution of less than 2 ns and an effective frame acquisition rate of at least 500 MHz, which is necessary to allow the simultaneous multi-ion species detection at 1 kHz repletion rate, we primarily want to use the camera for. Also, the pixel resolution of the TPX3Cam of 256 x 256 is required for our needs.
Following the notification, a standstill period of 10 calendar days will be held in accordance to paragraph 3 of Act No. 593 of 2 June 2016 on the Danish Act on the Complaints Board for public Procurement. This implies that the Contracting Authority cannot sign the Contract with the winning Tenderer before the standstill period has expired.
In case of complaints about tenders or decisions, e.g. award of contracts covered by Section II or III in the Danish Public Procurement Act must be submitted to the Complaints Board for Public Procurement (Klagenævnet for udbud) within 45 calendar days from the day after the contractor published a notice in the Official Journal on the conclusion of a contract. At the latest concurrently with submission of an appeal to the Complaints Board for Public Procurement, the complainant must inform the Contracting Authority of the alleged infringement, and whether the appeal is to be referred to the board.


Winner: Amsterdam Scientific Instruments
Award value: 65000