Annealing (metallurgy) brass can be cooled slowly in air, or quickly by quenching in water, unlike ferrous metals, such as steel, which must be cooled slowly to anneal. In this fashion, the metal is softened and prepared for further work—such as shaping, stamping, or forming. Annealing occurs by the diffusion of atoms within a solid material, so that the material progresses towards its equilibrium state. Heat increases the rate of diffusion by providing the energy needed to break bonds. The movement of atoms has the effect of redistributing and eradicating the dislocations in metals and (to a lesser extent) in ceramics. This
Glass-ceramic-to-metal seals way as when preparing a more conventional glass-to-metal seal. The temperature is then normally reduced into a temperature regime where many microscopic nuclei are formed in the glass. The temperature is then raised again into a regime where the major crystalline phases can form and grow to create the polycrystalline ceramic material with thermal expansion characteristics matched to that of the particular metal parts. The white opaque "glue" between the panel and the funnel of a colour TV cathode ray tube is a devitrified solder glass based on the system --. While this is a glass-ceramic-to-glass seal, the basic patent