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HQ 954221

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August 10, 1993

CLA-2 CO:R:C:M 954221 LTO

CATEGORY: CLASSIFICATION

TARIFF NO.: 8479.89.90

Ms. Rosemarie Smallcombe
Varian Associates, Inc.
P.O. Box 10800
Palo Alto, California 94304-0883

RE: Sputtering equipment; chapter 84, note 7; section XVI, statistical note 1(c); NY 829284; heading 8514

Dear Ms. Smallcombe:

This is in response to your letter of May 19, 1993, requesting the classification of Varian's sputtering equipment under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS).

FACTS:

The articles in question are the Model 3180, Model 3190 and the M-2000 series, sputtering equipment. Sputtering is a process used to deposit thin films onto a substrate under very high vacuum conditions. The material to be deposited, known as the target, is bombarded by ions. These ions knock atoms off the target, and the atoms are directed onto the substrate by electric and magnetic fields.

Models 3180 and 3190 can be configured with up to three magnetron sputtering stations, each equipped with the same or different target materials. In addition, these models may contain an RF sputter etch module for substrate cleaning prior to deposition or a substrate pre-heater for use before or during deposition. Cassettes containing a number of wafers are manually placed onto the machine's cassette track. Each wafer is automatically removed from the cassette, transferred into the vacuum chamber through a load lock, indexed through the process stations, and then reloaded into the cassette. A programmable controller enables the operator to control all machine  - 2 -
operations. Model 3180 can apply an aluminum alloy film one micron in thickness at a rate of 60 wafers per hour. Model 3190 is capable of depositing such a film on 90 wafers per hour. The M-2000 sputtering machine is similar to the foregoing models. In addition to the transfer and wafer load modules, it utilizes up to three process modules.

ISSUE:

Whether the sputtering equipment is classifiable under heading 8479, HTSUS, which provides for machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter.

LAW AND ANALYSIS:

The General Rules of Interpretation (GRI's) to the HTSUS govern the classification of goods in the tariff schedule. GRI 1 states in pertinent part that "for legal purposes, classification shall be determined according to the terms of the headings and any relative section or chapter notes . . . ."

Statistical note 1(c) to section XVI indicates that wafer fabrication equipment includes physical vapor deposition (PVD) equipment used to deposit various types of films which are obtained by vaporizing a solid. The note states that PVD equipment includes sputtering equipment "in which the film is generated by bombarding the source material (target) with ions."

In NY 829284, dated May 13, 1988, similar sputtering systems were held to be classifiable under subheading 8479.89.90, HTSUS, which provides for other machines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter. In that ruling, the proposed classification for the systems under heading 8514, HTSUS (industrial or laboratory induction or dielectric heating equipment), was rejected because the heat generated in the sputtering chamber was the result of a low pressure electric discharge of ions, not by induction or dielectrics.

With regard to the classification of machines and mechanical appliances under heading 8479, HTSUS, note 7 to chapter 84 provides as follows:

Subject to note 2 to this chapter and note 3 to section XVI, a machine the principal purpose of which is not described in any heading or for which no one purpose is the principal purpose is, unless the context otherwise requires, to be classified in heading 8479.

Because the principal purpose of the equipment in question is not described in any heading, the sputtering equipment is classifiable under heading 8479, HTSUS, specifically under subheading 8479.89.90, HTSUS.

HOLDING:

The sputtering equipment is classifiable under subheading 8479.89.90, HTSUS, which provides for "[m]achines and mechanical appliances having individual functions, not specified or included elsewhere in this chapter . . . [o]ther machines and mechanical appliances . . . [o]ther . . . [o]ther." The corresponding column 1 rate of duty for articles of this subheading is 3.7% ad valorem.

Sincerely,

John Durant, Director

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