Femtosecond
A femtosecond is the SI unit of time equal to 10−15 or 1/1,000,000,000,000,000 of a second. That is one quadrillionth, or one millionth of one billionth, of a second.[1] For context, a femtosecond is to a second as a second is to about 31.71 million years; a ray of light travels approximately 0.3 µm (micrometers) in 1 femtosecond, a distance comparable to the diameter of a virus.[2]
The word femtosecond is formed by the SI prefix femto and the SI unit second. Its symbol is fs.[3]
A femtosecond is equal to 1000 attoseconds, or 1/1000 picosecond. Because the next higher SI unit is 1000 times larger, times of 10−14 and 10−13 seconds are typically expressed as tens or hundreds of femtoseconds.
- Typical time steps for molecular dynamics simulations are on the order of 1 fs.[4]
- The waves of visible light oscillate with a period (reciprocal frequency) of about 2 femtoseconds
. The precise period depends on the energy of the photons, which determines their color. (See wave-particle duality) This time can be calculated by dividing the wavelength of the light by the speed of light (approximately 3 x 108 m/s) to determine the time required for light to travel that distance.[5]
- 1.3 fs – cycle time for 390 nanometer light, at the transition between violet visible light and ultraviolet[5]
- 2.57 fs – cycle time for 770 nanometer light, at the transition between red visible light and near-infrared[5]
- 15 fs – the swiftest chemical reaction, such as the absorption of a light photon in the Photosynthetic antenna molecule
- 200 fs – the average chemical reaction, such as the reaction of pigments in an eye to light[5]
- 300 fs – the duration of a vibration of the atoms in an iodine molecule[6]
See also
- Femtochemistry
- Femtosecond pulse shaping
- Ultrafast laser spectroscopy
- SI unit
- Second
- Microsecond
- Millisecond
- Nanosecond
- Picosecond
- Orders of magnitude (time)
References
- ↑ "Femtosecond: Merriam Webster definition". Merriam Webster Online Dictionary.
- ↑ Compared with overview in: Fisher, Bruce; Harvey, Richard P.; Champe, Pamela C. (2007). Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews: Microbiology (Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews Series). Hagerstown, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN 0-7817-8215-5. Page 3
- ↑ NIST. "NIST Definitions of the SI units".
- ↑ "Femtosecond: use in molecular dynamics simulation". LAMMPS Molecular Simulator.
- 1 2 3 4 Andrew M. Weiner (2009). Ultrafast Optics. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-41539-8.
- ↑ Abbi, S. C. (2001). Nonlinear Optics and Laser Spectroscopy. United States of America: Alpha Science Int'l Ltd. p. 361. ISBN 8173193541.
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