anneal

American  

[uh-neel] / əˈnil /

verb (used with object)

1. to heat (glass, earthenware, metals, etc.) to remove or prevent internal stress.

2. to free from internal stress by heating and gradually cooling.

3. to toughen or temper.

4. Biochemistry. to recombine (nucleic acid strands) at low temperature after separating by heat.

5. to fuse colors onto (a vitreous or metallic surface) by heating.

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noun

1. an act, instance, or product of annealing.

anneal British  

/ əˈniːl /

verb

1. to temper or toughen (something) by heat treatment

2. to subject to or undergo some physical treatment, esp heating, that removes internal stress, crystal defects, and dislocations

3. (tr) to toughen or strengthen (the will, determination, etc)

4. (often foll by out) physics to disappear or cause to disappear by a rearrangement of atoms

   defects anneal out at different temperatures

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noun

1. an act of annealing

Other Word Forms

• annealer noun
• unannealed adjective

Etymology

Origin of anneal

before 1000; Middle English anelen, Old English anǣlan to kindle, equivalent to an- on + ǣlan to burn, akin to āl fire

Example Sentences

D-Wave uses quantum annealing, a process that is already commercially mature and can solve problems like workforce scheduling and factory floor planning, Wedbush noted.

From Barron's

D-Wave “is the undisputed quantum annealing leader,” he said, referring to a technique in the industry that focuses on finding a quantum system’s lowest energy state to fix problems with optimization.

From MarketWatch

Through a rapid thermal annealing process, the team formed a highly curved graphene structure with controlled pathways that allow ions to move with exceptional speed and efficiency.

From Science Daily

That said, producing these cells involves high-temperature annealing and tricky post-treatment steps, significantly slowing fabrication and making it hard to incorporate them into everyday items.

From Science Daily

They used a thermal annealing process, exposing the film to air at 85 degrees Celsius for 24 hours.

From Science Daily