Apicosecond (abbreviated asps) is aunit of time in theInternational System of Units (SI) equal to 10−12 or1⁄1 000 000 000 000 (one trillionth) of asecond. 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 31,688.76 years.
One picosecond is equal to 1000femtoseconds, or 1/1000nanoseconds. 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 thespeed of light (approximately 3 x 108 m/s) to determine the distance traveled. 1 THz is in thefar infrared.
1 picosecond – time taken by light in vacuum to travel approximately 0.30 mm
^Lankhorst, D.; Schriever, J.; Leyte, J. C. (1982). "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.
