A coated electrically conductive substrate has particular utility where there are multiple closely spaced leads and tin whiskers constitute a potential short circuit. The cavitated long carbon chain fractions of crude oil are irradiated with an electron beam in combination with an electron beam sustained non-thermal plasma discharge to create short carbon chain fractions. The thermal spreader absorbs the radiant energy and converts it to heat. Once erasure has been verified, the distribution of erased threshold voltages is compacted by sustaining, for a predetermined length of time, the simultaneous application of a gate voltage that is equal to the target erased threshold voltage and a highly positive drain voltage. The query is executed according to the chosen QEP.