[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 208 (Friday, October 27, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62996-62997]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-18048]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration


California Institute of Technology, et al., Notice of 
Consolidated Decision on Applications for Duty-Free Entry of Scientific 
Instruments

This is a decision consolidated 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 5:00 P.M. in Room 2104, U.S. Department of 
Commerce, 14\th\ Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20301
Comments: None received. Decision: Approved. No instrument of 
equivalent scientific value to the foreign instruments described below, 
for such purposes as each is intended to be used, is being manufactured 
in the United States.
Docket Number: 06-008. Applicant: California Institute of Technology, 
Pasadena, CA 91125. Instrument: Neutron Guide. Manufacturer: Swiss 
Neutronics, Switzerland. Intended Use: See 71 FR 18082, July 27, 2006. 
Reasons: The article is a compatible key accessory for the high-
resolution, direct-geometry, time-of-flight chopper spectrometer (ARCS) 
at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge N.L. It will be used to 
investigate the energy spectra obtained when neutrons incident on a 
sample are scattered by the motions of atoms or of electron spins in 
the sample. Studies will include the thermodynamics of atom vibrations 
or spin motions, or of their characteristic energies and momenta, 
cooperative motions of electrons in solids relevant to electrical 
transport, magnetic properties and superconductivity. The neutron guide 
is especially useful for studies that require low or medium-energy 
neutron beams that are incident upon the sample.
Docket Number: 06-014. Applicant: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 
Harvard Medical School Boston, MA 02115. Instrument: Confocal 
Microscope, Model Opera. Manufacturer: Evotec, Germany. Intended Use: 
See notice at 71 FR 18082, April 10, 2006. Reasons: The foreign 
instrument provides:
    1. An integrated fast autofocus system and an automated water 
immersion lens system for superior resolution and lower background in a 
true point confocal laser scanning microscope using a Nipkow spinning 
disk
    2. Ultra high-throughput performance (> 200,000 images per day)
    3. Parallel acquisition of three different wavelengths through 
three different LCD cameras with a dedicated cluster of three three 
computers that process an image while the following one is being 
acquired
    4. Open architecture which allows creation of new scripts or 
modification and enhancement of existing or imported scripts
    5. Broad user support providing a wide variety of services with 
rapid servicing, parts replacement and instrument upgrading.
Advice provided by: The National Institutes of Health.
Docket Number: 06-015. Applicant: University of Kentucky, Department of 
Chemistry, Lexington, KY 4056-0055. Instrument: Optical Parametric 
Oscillator System. Manufacturer: GWU Lasertechnik, Germany. Intended 
Use: See notice at 71 FR 26048, July 27, 2006. Reasons: The foreign 
article is a compatible accessory for an existing Nd:YAG laser as well 
as an existing data acquisition system developed over several years. It 
provides: (1) a wavelength tuning range from 412 nm to 2.5 [b.mu]m, (2) 
a divergence of < 0.5 mrad, (3) linewidth < 4 cm -1 and (4) motorized 
crystal tuning.
Docket Number: 06-017. Applicant: University of Michigan, Materials 
Science and Engineering Department, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2136. 
Instrument: Ultrasonic Fatigue Testing Equipment. Manufacturer: BOKU 
Institute of Physics, Austria. Intended Use: See notice at 71 FR 26048, 
May 3, 2006. Reasons: The foreign instrument provides a highly 
specialized system to be used for studying ultra-high cyclic fatigue 
behavior of materials in the gigacycle regime. It provides measurements 
for understanding crack growth behavior in various materials including 
next generation superalloys and prediction of lifetime behavior with 
cyclic loading frequencies to 20 KHz with capability to stall and 
return to load repeatedly.

[[Page 62997]]

Advice received from the: Air Force Research Lab.
Docket Number: 06-037. Applicant: Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 
06459-0170. Instrument: Micromanipulators and Control System, 
Temperature Control and Moveable Top Plate . Manufacturer: Scientifica, 
United Kingdom. Intended Use: See notice at 71 FR 42632, July 27, 2006. 
Reasons: The foreign instrument provides sub-micron precision and 
stability so as to allow the manipulators and moveable table to record 
neurons electrically in whole-cell patch-clamp mode, with a heater to 
maintain in vivo temperatures. An electrode can penetrate the neuronal 
membrane allowing electrical control of the neuron. The manipulators, 
movable table and heater are computer controlled to automatically guide 
the manipulators back to preset positions. Advice received from: The 
National Institutes of Health.
Docket Number: 06-041. Applicant: University of Illinois at Chicago, 
Chicago, IL 6067-7059. Instrument: Beam Stabilizing System. 
Manufacturer: Laser Laboratorium Gottingen, Germany. Intended Use: See 
71 CFR 42633, July 27, 2006. Reasons: The instrument is intended to be 
used with a KrF Laser in order to improve the beam quality of the 
laser, maximizing the possibility of a uniform beam with an even 
wavefront for ultraviolet operation at 248 nm with extension of 
operation into the x-ray range of 0.29 nm for general studies of the 
interaction of intense radiation with matter. Advice received from: The 
National Institutes of Health.
Docket Number: 06-044. Applicant: Columbia University, New York, NY. 
Instrument: Ultra-High Vacuum Low Temperature Scanning Tunneling 
Microscope. Manufacturer: Omicron Nano Technology, Germany. Intended 
Use: See 71 FR 42633, July 27, 2006. Reasons: The foreign instrument 
provides:
    1. A fully cryogenic STM that is directly connected to a liquid 
helium cryostat at 4 K, with a hold time of 15 hours before recharging 
is necessary
    2. Cooling of both sample and tip for operation and measurement at 
4 K with spatial sample/tip instrumental drift rates of less than 1 
billionth of an inch per hour.
    3. Tip manipulation and transfer inside the ulta-high vacuum 
chamber without exposure to ambient air conditions.
Docket Number: 06-045. Applicant: Purdue University, Laboratory of 
Chemistry, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2084. Instrument: Nd:YAG Laser/ Dye 
Laser. Manufacturer: InnoLas, Germany. Intended Use: See notice at 71 
FR 42633, July 27, 2006. Reasons: The foreign instrument provides:
    1. Incorporation of both lasers into a single compact housing, 
ensuring that both lasers are properly aligned and minimizing 
realignment if they are moved. The smaller footprint saves limited 
laboratory space.
    2. Exceptional mechanical and thermal stability associated with the 
laser body being fabricated out of a single cast-aluminum body 
resulting in superior reliability and an exceptionally stable day-to-
day beam profile with minimal beam walk for maximal beam overlap
    3. The Nd:YAG laser radiates a 600mJ/pulse at 1064 nm, 300mJ/pulse 
at 532 nm and 140 mJ/pulse at 355 nm.
    4. Repetition rate of 20 Hz. All nine of the other Nd:YAG lasers in 
the lab operate at 20 Hz making this rate an absolute requirement for 
planned multi-laser experiments.
Advice received from: The National Institutes of Health.
Docket Number: 06-046. Applicant: University of Colorado, JILA 
Department, Boulder, CO 80309. Instrument: Nd:YAG Laser, Model SL-300-
20 D . Manufacturer: InnoLas, Germany. Intended Use: See notice at 71 
FR 42633, July 27, 2006 (comparable case with 06-065). Reasons: The 
foreign instrument provides exceptional stability and reliability to 
perform experiments run every day over months and years. Down time must 
be minimal. The laser must be operated in an environment subject to 
vibration from turbomolecular vacuum pumps. The housing of an InnoLas 
laser is machined out of a single, monolithic metal block and offers 
superior stability in a vibrationally harsh environment. The laser must 
also operate at a repetition rate of 20 Hz to be synchronized with the 
rest of the experiment and should be mounted as close as possible to 
the ion source for laser safety, making minimal dimensions of the laser 
head desirable.
The capabilities of each of the foreign instruments described above are 
pertinent to each applicant's intended purpose and we know of no other 
instrument or apparatus being manufactured in the United States which 
is of equivalent scientific value to any of the foreign instruments.

Gerald A. Zerdy,
Program Manager Statutory Import Programs Staff.
[FR Doc. E6-18048 Filed 10-26-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DS-S