CAVITY ENHANCED SOURCE OF FREQUENCY ENTANGLED PHOTONS FOR EFFICIENT QUANTUM NETWORK INTERFACES (ARTES 4.0 SL SPL 3H.003) EXPRO+ - RE-ISSUE
About This Opportunity
This is a services contract in the information and communication technology sector. Located in International, Europe, this opportunity is open to firms and consortiums. Proposals must be submitted before July 31, 2026.
Published through ESA - European Space Agency, a multilateral development bank that follows standardized international procurement guidelines. Projects funded by multilateral institutions are generally open to international bidders from eligible member countries for services in the information and communication technology sector. Service contracts are typically evaluated on both technical quality and price, and may require bidders to demonstrate relevant experience and qualified personnel. Interested parties should review the full documentation on the original source before submitting their proposal.
Description
Objective: The objective of the activity is to design, develop and test a narrowband entangled photon source for future quantum networks.Targeted Improvements:Higher key-rates enhanced by individual cavity modes. The generation of entangled photon pairs at multiple frequencies, taking advantage of enhanced output rates due to a finessed cavity, with a direct interconnectivity to the optical communication layer using quantum hardware.Description:A way to generate entangled photon pairs is through parametric spontaneous down-conversion, where high energetic pump photons can be converted into entangled photon pairs using a non-linear crystal. The energy of each photon pair must sum up to the energy of the pump-photon. That leads together with the momentum conservation to phase matching conditions, and hence the centre frequencies and the bandwidth of the generated photon pairs are defined.By periodically poling the crystal, arbitrary wavelength combinations of the photons can be selected. Placing the crystal inside an optical resonator, the output spectrum of the photon pair source can further be designed to be narrowband, with well separated frequency bins, allowing for efficient frequency multiplexing or for coupling to atomic systems, like memories, clocks, sensors.This activity will design, manufacture and test a photon pair source for frequency multiplexed transmission both for use with wavelengths defined in the C-band ITU and for coupling photons to an atomic system such as quantum memory. This is a versatile source for future quantum networks which exploits entanglement over more than one node and can efficiently couple to memories, clocks, sensors or computers.Procurement Policy: C(1) = Activity restricted to non-prime contractors (incl. SMEs). For additional information please go to:http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Business_with_ESA/Small_and_Medium_Sized_Enterprises/Opportunities_for_SMEs/Procurement_policy_on_fair_access_for_SMEs_-_the_C1-C4_Clauses
Data provenance
This notice is sourced from ESA - European Space Agency and was originally published on June 1, 2026. Last refreshed 4 days ago. BidsFactory mirrors official procurement notices and links back to the source for full legal text.
About European Space Agency (ESA)
European Space Agency (ESA) has issued 555 procurement notices on BidsFactory, including 204 currently open and 138 awarded contracts. Activity concentrates in Information & Communication Technology, Transport & Logistics, and Environment & Climate. Tenders span 9 countries including Denmark, Czech Republic, and Austria. Notices are distributed via ESA - European Space Agency. Most recent publication: June 10, 2026.
Frequently asked questions about this tender
When does this tender close?
The submission deadline is July 31, 2026. You have 36 days left to prepare and submit your proposal to the contracting authority.
Who is the contracting authority?
This notice was issued by European Space Agency (ESA) in International. The authority is responsible for evaluating bids, awarding the contract, and managing performance.
What type of contract is this?
This is a Services contract in the Information & Communication Technology sector. The classification helps bidders match the opportunity to their qualifications and registered scope of supply.
Where will the contract be performed?
The contract is for delivery in International. Foreign bidders should review local registration, taxation, and any in-country presence requirements before submitting.
How can I submit a bid?
Visit ESA - European Space Agency to access the full notice, required documents, and submission instructions provided by the contracting authority.
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