[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 36 (Tuesday, February 24, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8381-8382]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-3981]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration


National Institute of Standards and Technology; Notice of 
Decision on Application for Duty-Free Entry of Scientific Instrument

    This decision is made pursuant to section 6(c) of the Educational, 
Scientific, and Cultural Materials Importation Act of 1966 (Pub. L. 89-
651, 80 Stat. 897; 15 CFR part 301). Related records can be viewed 
between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. in Suite 4100W, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, Franklin Court Building, 1099 14th Street, NW., Washington, 
DC.
    Docket Number: 03-052. Applicant: National Institute of Standards 
and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899. Instrument: Dual Beam Scanning 
Electron and Focused Ion Beam Microscope System, Model Nova 600 
NanoLab. Manufacturer: FEI Company, The Netherlands. Intended Use: See 
notice at 68 FR 69659, December 15, 2003.
    Comments: None received. Decision: Approved. No instrument of 
equivalent scientific value to the foreign instrument, for such 
purposes as it is intended to be used, is being manufactured in the 
United States. Reasons: The foreign instrument provides state-of-the-
art capabilities for performing nanoscale metrology including: (1) 
Operation at both high

[[Page 8382]]

and low vacuum and electron energies; (2) high accuracy laser 
interferometry; and (3) a specially adapted stage to accommodate large 
samples for integrated circuit applications. Sandia National 
Laboratories and a university research center advise that (1) These 
capabilities are pertinent to the applicant's intended purpose and (2) 
it knows of no domestic instrument or apparatus of equivalent 
scientific value to the foreign instrument for the applicant's intended 
use.
    We know of no other instrument or apparatus of equivalent 
scientific value to the foreign instrument which is being manufactured 
in the United States.

Gerald A. Zerdy,
Program Manager, Statutory Import Programs Staff.
[FR Doc. 04-3981 Filed 2-23-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-P