femtoseconds
Laser pulse durations
A femtosecond is one quadrillionth of a second—that's a decimal point followed by fourteen zeros and a one.
At this scale, light travels only about 300 nanometers, roughly the width of a small bacterium.
Femtoseconds matter in physics and chemistry for measuring events like molecular vibrations and electron movements.
Femtosecond lasers enable precise cutting in eye surgery and semiconductor manufacturing.
The chemical reaction occurs in just a few femtoseconds.
Trillionths of a second
- nanosecondsBillionths of seconds
- microsecondsMillion per second
- millisecondsThousandths of a second
- ultrashortExceptionally brief in duration
time units · chronometry · duration · transient · ephemeral · instantaneous
Increase in intensity
- chirpedMade small bird sounds
- photonicsLight particle science and engineering
- spectroscopyStudy of light-matter interaction
- micromachiningManufacturing at microscopic scales
ablation · coherent · excimer · solid-state · tunable · resonator
Graphed oscillation pattern
- burstBreak apart suddenly
- peakUtmost height attained
- amplitudeMaximum oscillation displacement
- durationLength of existence
envelope · chirp · bandwidth · spectrum · oscilloscope · signal · peak power
Signal's similarity to itself delayed
- precision timingAccuracy to the millisecond
- diagnosticsMethods identifying problems
- detectionAct of finding something
- resolutionFormal decision or determination
Processes changing substance composition
- bond breakingRupturing chemical links
- isomerizationMolecular rearrangement keeping same atoms
- photochemistryStudy of radiation-induced reactions
- protein foldingChain becoming functional structure
picoseconds
Trillionths of a second
- nanosecondsBillionths of seconds
- microsecondsMillion per second
- millisecondsThousandths of a second
ultrashort · time units · chronometry · duration · transient · ephemeral · instantaneous
amplification
Increase in intensity
- chirpedMade small bird sounds
- photonicsLight particle science and engineering
- spectroscopyStudy of light-matter interaction
micromachining · ablation · coherent · excimer · solid-state · tunable · resonator
waveform
Graphed oscillation pattern
duration · envelope · chirp · bandwidth · spectrum · oscilloscope · signal · peak power
autocorrelation
Signal's similarity to itself delayed
- precision timingAccuracy to the millisecond
- diagnosticsMethods identifying problems
- detectionAct of finding something
chemical reactions
Processes changing substance composition
- bond breakingRupturing chemical links
- isomerizationMolecular rearrangement keeping same atoms
- photochemistryStudy of radiation-induced reactions