Thermally assisted shorts removal process for glass ceramic product using an RF field

A method of effective controlling the thermal gradient in a predetermined region within a glass ceramic product while repairing a short between metallic conductors located within said predetermined region, comprising the steps of:

• (a) applying energy to the metallic conductors located within a glass ceramic product to raise the temperature of the conductors to approximately the melt point of their metallic constituents, so long as the conductors do not actually melt wherein said step of applying energy to the metallic conductors further comprises the step of placing the glass ceramic product in a radio frequency (RF) field;
• and
• (b) maintaining the application of a sufficient amount of energy to said conductors to effectively keep the slope of the thermal gradient in said predetermined region below a preselected level at the time short repair activity is commenced.

A method of effectively controlling the thermal gradient in a predetermined region within a glass ceramic product while repair a short between metallic conductors located within such region, comprising the steps of:

• (a) applying energy to the metallic conductors located within a glass ceramic product to raise the temperature of the conductors to approximately the melt point of their metallic constituents, so long as the conductors do not actually melt, and to raise the temperature of glass surrounding the conductors so that the slope of the thermal gradient in said predetermined region is less than a preselected level wherein said step of applying energy to the metallic conductors further comprises the step of placing the glass ceramic product in a radio frequency (RF) field;
• and
• (b) commencing short repair activity by subsequently applying heat to melt a given short between the metallic conductors located within the glass ceramic product while the slope of the thermal gradient in said predetermined region remains below said preselected level.