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Picosecond
one trillionth of a second
A picosecond is an SI unit of time equal to 10-12 or (one trillionth) of a second. That is one trillionth, or one millionth of one millionth of a second, or 0.000 000 000 001 seconds. A picosecond is to one second as one second is to approximately 31,689 years. Multiple technical approaches achieve imaging within single-digit picoseconds: for example, the streak camera or intensified CCD (ICCD) cameras are able to picture the motion of light.[1][2]
The name is formed by the SI prefixpico and the SI unitsecond. It is abbreviated as ps.
One picosecond is equal to 1000 femtoseconds, or 1/1000 nanoseconds. Because the next SI unit is 1000 times larger, measurements of 10-11 and 10-10 second are typically expressed as tens or hundreds of picoseconds. Some notable measurements in this range include:
1.0 picoseconds (1.0 ps) - cycle time for electromagnetic frequency 1 terahertz (THz) (1 x 1012 hertz), an inverse unit. This corresponds to a wavelength of 0.3 mm, as can be calculated by multiplying 1 ps by the speed of light (approximately 3 x 108 m/s) to determine the distance traveled. 1 THz is in the far infrared.
1 picosecond - time taken by light in a vacuum to travel approximately 0.30 mm
^Lankhorst, D.; Schriever, J.; Leyte, J. C. "Determination of the Rotational Correlation Time of Water by Proton NMR Relaxation in H217O and Some Related Results". Berichte der Bunsengesellschaft für physikalische Chemie. 86 (3): 215-221. doi:10.1002/bbpc.19820860308.