Direct award of an Electron diffractometer

1.1.

Buyer

Official name : Aarhus Universitet

Email : aumu@au.dk

Legal type of the buyer : Body governed by public law

Activity of the contracting authority : Education

2.1.

Procedure

Title : Direct award of an Electron diffractometer - 2025-0908064

Description : The procurement concerns the acquisition of an Electron diffractometer. An electron diffractometer is essential for our research because it enables precise structural characterization of nanoscale materials that are inaccessible to conventional X-ray diffraction. Its high sensitivity and ability to resolve atomic arrangements in sub-10 nm domains allow us to directly correlate structure with properties in complex, size-dependent systems. This capability is critical for advancing our understanding and design of novel functional nanomaterials and study the crystallization behaviour of complex systems such as ionic liquids (room temperature molten salts). The electron diffractometer has to be optimized for diffraction. The instrument has to have a 200 kV acceleration voltage, a variable detector distance capability and operate shutterless. The sample holder must allow for sample handling under inert conditions, i.e., air-free, oxygen- and water-free environments. It must allow for studying the sample at gapless variable temperature, down to cryogenic temperatures. The system must be equipped with an EDS unit. The operation of all units has to be seamlessly integrated into one, including the operation and data handling with just one software.

Procedure identifier : 16dc571d-7695-4de8-a136-9930b05c4477

Internal identifier : 9e83c3f7-bf90-4f32-bb9b-e30c26a1c2c1

Type of procedure : Negotiated without prior call for competition

2.1.1.

Purpose

Main nature of the contract : Supplies

Main classification ( cpv ): 38000000 Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)

2.1.2.

Place of performance

Country : Denmark

Anywhere in the given country

2.1.4.

General information

Legal basis :

Directive 2014/24/EU

5.1.

Lot : LOT-0000

Title : Direct award of an Electron diffractometer - 2025-0908064

Description : The procurement concerns the acquisition of an Electron diffractometer. An electron diffractometer is essential for our research because it enables precise structural characterization of nanoscale materials that are inaccessible to conventional X-ray diffraction. Its high sensitivity and ability to resolve atomic arrangements in sub-10 nm domains allow us to directly correlate structure with properties in complex, size-dependent systems. This capability is critical for advancing our understanding and design of novel functional nanomaterials and study the crystallization behaviour of complex systems such as ionic liquids (room temperature molten salts). The electron diffractometer has to be optimized for diffraction. The instrument has to have a 200 kV acceleration voltage, a variable detector distance capability and operate shutterless. The sample holder must allow for sample handling under inert conditions, i.e., air-free, oxygen- and water-free environments. It must allow for studying the sample at gapless variable temperature, down to cryogenic temperatures. The system must be equipped with an EDS unit. The operation of all units has to be seamlessly integrated into one, including the operation and data handling with just one software.

Internal identifier : 4de4dd77-2d8a-4434-b99d-3209dda716b2

5.1.1.

Purpose

Main nature of the contract : Supplies

Main classification ( cpv ): 38000000 Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)

Quantity : 1

5.1.2.

Place of performance

Country : Denmark

Anywhere in the given country

5.1.3.

Estimated duration

Other duration : Unlimited

5.1.6.

General information

Procurement Project not financed with EU Funds.

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) : yes

5.1.10.

Award criteria

Justification for not indicating the weighting of the award criteria : There is only one supplier.

5.1.15.

Techniques

Framework agreement :

No framework agreement

Information about the dynamic purchasing system :

No dynamic purchase system

5.1.16.

Further information, mediation and review

Review organisation : Klagenævnet for udbud

Information about review deadlines : Please contact Aarhus University, if you have a comment about this notice - udbud@au.dk After the deployment of this notice, a standstill period of 10 calendar will begin. The contracting authority cannot sign the contract 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.

Organisation providing more information on the review procedures : Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsen

Organisation whose budget is used to pay for the contract : Aarhus Universitet

Organisation executing the payment : Aarhus Universitet

Organisation signing the contract : Aarhus Universitet

Direct award :

Justification for direct award : The contract can be provided only by a particular economic operator because of an absence of competition for technical reasons

Other justification : The 200 kV acceleration voltage is key to allowing us to study our high Z research samples, as we require good beam penetration of the sample. A lower energy beam would be insufficient to study our materials, in particular those containing heavier metals, due to poor beam penetration. A high acceleration voltage is also mandatory to penetrate thicker samples, which is needed for studying in-situ (i.e. in the instrument) the crystallization of ionic liquids. Here it is impossible to control the sample thickness. The variable detector distance capability is critical for our research since we will study diverse materials, with a wide range of unit cell parameters, and require very high-resolution diffraction data. An instrument lacking variable detector distance capability would be entirely unsuitable for us, as it would prohibit the study of large unit cell samples and would also preclude charge density experiments, which require very high-resolution data. The shutterless noise-free single electron counting detector is also key for our research since this type of detector provides superior signal-to-noise ratios and more rapid measurement times than any alternative. This is absolutely needed to study our samples that undergo subtle structural changes upon temperature variation. Here rapid and gapless measurements are mandatory. We have also observed in test measurements that particularly ionic liquid samples are unstable. Hence rapid measurement (and extraction of as much data as possible) is key. A high dynamic range of the detector is also needed, since our study of hybrid organic-inorganic materials requires simultaneous resolution of both strong and weak diffraction spots. The integrated EDS capability is needed to determine the elemental composition of our materials (correlative to diffraction data) together with collecting diffraction data on the same sample specimen. The setup has to be integrated and has to be controlled with one software to guarantee full functionality. Easy-to-use software control and data processing is also key to our research group, since our expertise lies in crystallography and material science, rather than being expert electron microscopists, meaning that we require an easy to use instrument dedicated for the purpose with a well-established software for instrument control and data processing. Due to our requirements for high beam energy (at least 200 kV), variable detector distance and integrated EDS capability, as well as instrument control and data processing being conducted using a single software package, Rigaku is the only suitable supplier. Any other supplier would represent a significant compromise in our capabilities, either through lack of EDS integration, insufficient acceleration voltage for our high Z materials, lack of variable detector distance capability, lack of a shutterless single electron counting detector, or requiring third-party softwares which make instrument control and data processing more difficult. Only the XtaLAB Synergy-ED is capable of meeting all these requirements, whereas all alternative instruments lack at least one of these capabilities that are critical for our research needs. Our group is heavily focused on materials science, meaning that we require an easy-to-use, reliable and field-proven instrument, instead of a converted TEM, which would require significant effort in terms of software development just to be able to control the instrument, let alone collect high quality diffraction data. Crystallographers (e.g. our research group) can very quickly begin operating the XtaLAB Synergy-ED, however a TEM would take significant training and education to begin using without prior microscopy expertise. The XtaLAB Synergy-ED has been thoroughly tested in the field with over 20 installations around the world, and over 100 peer-reviewed publications which demonstrate the capability, performance, and reliability of the instrument. No other instruments available on the market have been tested as thoroughly or have produced sufficient peer-reviewed data/results. The XtaLAB Synergy-ED includes the intuitive and easy to learn instrument control and data processing software CrysAlisPro. Our group has significant expertise in crystallography and materials science rather than software development or microscopy, hence we require an instrument with a simple and intuitive software package which allows us to begin experiments immediately, instead of needing to either use a complex experimental TEM system, or to learn multiple softwares for instrument control and data processing in a separate software. The use of CrysAlisPro would allow us easily conduct dynamical refinement protocols, which is not possible using any other manufacturer without significant software effort. The XtaLAB Synergy-ED can conduct air-free diffraction experiments at cryogenic temperatures, whereas other market options do not have this capability, making them unsuitable for our research needs. From our thorough research and testing, we have determined that due to our specific research needs, only the XtaLAB Synergy-ED is suitable for us, all alternative instruments on the market are unsuitable due to their lacking one or more of the critical features our particular research requires.

6.1.

Result lot identifier : LOT-0000

6.1.2.

Information about winners

Winner :

Official name : Rigaku

Tender :

Tender identifier : 2025-0908064

Identifier of lot or group of lots : LOT-0000

Value of the tender : 1 320 000,00 EUR

Subcontracting : No

Contract information :

Identifier of the contract : 2025-0908064

Date on which the winner was chosen : 27/10/2025

Information about European Union funds :

Organisation signing the contract : Aarhus Universitet

8.1.

ORG-0001

Official name : Aarhus Universitet

Registration number : 31119103

Postal address : Nordre Ringgade 1

Town : Aarhus C

Postcode : 8000

Country subdivision (NUTS) : Østjylland ( DK042 )

Country : Denmark

Contact point : Jens August Aastrup Munch

Email : aumu@au.dk

Telephone : 20765769

Internet address : https://www.au.dk/

Roles of this organisation :

Buyer

Organisation signing the contract

Organisation whose budget is used to pay for the contract

Organisation executing the payment

8.1.

ORG-0002

Official name : Klagenævnet for udbud

Registration number : 37795526

Postal address : Toldboden 2

Town : Viborg

Postcode : 8800

Country subdivision (NUTS) : Vestjylland ( DK041 )

Country : Denmark

Contact point : Klagenævnet for udbud

Email : klfu@naevneneshus.dk

Telephone : +45 72405708

Internet address : https://erhvervsstyrelsen.dk/klagenaevnet-for-udbud

Roles of this organisation :

Review organisation

8.1.

ORG-0003

Official name : Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsen

Registration number : 10294819

Postal address : Carl Jacobsens Vej 35

Town : Valby

Postcode : 2500

Country subdivision (NUTS) : Byen København ( DK011 )

Country : Denmark

Contact point : Konkurrence- og Forbrugerstyrelsen

Email : kfst@kfst.dk

Telephone : +45 41715000

Internet address : https://www.kfst.dk

Roles of this organisation :

Organisation providing more information on the review procedures

8.1.

ORG-0004

Official name : Rigaku

Size of the economic operator : Large

Town : Neu-Isenburg

Postcode : 63263

Country subdivision (NUTS) : Frankfurt am Main, Kreisfreie Stadt ( DE712 )

Country : Germany

Roles of this organisation :

Tenderer

Winner of these lots : LOT-0000

8.1.

ORG-0005

Official name : Mercell Holding ASA

Registration number : 980921565

Postal address : Askekroken 11

Town : Oslo

Postcode : 0277

Country subdivision (NUTS) : Oslo ( NO081 )

Country : Norway

Contact point : eSender

Email : publication@mercell.com

Telephone : +47 21018800

Fax : +47 21018801

Internet address : http://mercell.com/

Roles of this organisation :

TED eSender

Notice identifier/version : 0689c651-e632-4ee0-b189-67e8ab018990 - 01

Form type : Direct award preannouncement

Notice type : Voluntary ex-ante transparency notice

Notice subtype : 25

Notice dispatch date : 27/10/2025 11:58:51 (UTC+00:00) Western European Time, GMT

Notice dispatch date (eSender) : 28/10/2025 08:07:09 (UTC+00:00) Western European Time, GMT

Languages in which this notice is officially available : English

Notice publication number : 713123-2025

OJ S issue number : 208/2025

Publication date : 29/10/2025

Fakta om udbudet

Direct award of an Electron diffractometer - 2025-0908064

Aarhus Universitet