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Glite Dictionary
attosecond

attosecond

1 9.9
A very, very short time equal to one billionth of a billionth of a second
  • noun
  • /ˈætəˌsɛkənd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : attosegundo
  • The attosecond is a fundamental unit used in the field of physics to study rapid processes in atoms.
  • attosecond pulse
  • attosecond science

Examples

  • Toward an attosecond view of molecules (SD) May 16.

    Academic text (2012)

  • This book contains a study of the thermal processes initiated by attosecond laser pulses.

    Blog text (19)

  • Through a process called attosecond absorption spectroscopy, researchers were able to time the oscillations between simultaneously produced quantum states of valence electrons with great precision.

    Blog text (2)

  • An attosecond is equal to one quintillionth of a second, which is incredibly brief.

  • Research in attosecond technology aims to measure phenomena at a timescale that is difficult to comprehend.

How Long

second
  • Specialized
∞ 1.0
millisecond
26 2.5
microsecond
  • Specialized
11 3.6
nanosecond
  • Specialized
20 4.5
picosecond
  • Specialized
1 8.0
femtosecond
  • Specialized
1 9.7
attosecond
  • Specialized
1 9.9

Surface Forms

attosecond singular
attoseconds plural

Morphology

attosecond = second (semi-transparent) = atto + second

Formed from the SI prefix 'atto-' + 'second' so the structure is clear, but the precise magnitude (10⁻¹⁸) requires technical knowledge of SI prefixes and is not obvious to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

The word attosecond comes from the prefix atto-, which was formed from the Danish word atten meaning 'eighteen', plus second for the time unit. It was named this way to show it is one quintillionth of a second, so the name helps you remember how extremely short the time is.