Zeptosecond - The Smallest Time Unit Ever Measured - BBC

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See you in a zeptosecond!

Scientists have measured the world's smallest unit of time, and it's called the zeptosecond.

It was recorded by a group of scientists at Goethe University, in Germany and published in the Science journal.

They measured how long it takes for a photon to cross a hydrogen molecule - around 247 zeptoseconds - making this measurement the shortest time span EVER to have been successfully recorded.

But just how small is a zeptosecond...?

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What is a zeptosecond?

A zeptosecond is a trillionth of a billionth of a second.

That's a decimal point followed by 20 zeroes and a 1, and it looks like this: 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 001.

The only unit of time shorter than a zeptosecond is a yoctosecond, and Planck time.

A yoctosecond (ys) is a septillionth of a second.

And how do you figure out Planck time?! Divide the minuscule Planck length by the speed of light (which is pretty big) and you get a really tiny unit of time - the Planck time!

How do you measure a zeptosecond?

Scientists used a gas called hydrogen, a particle accelerator machine and a super-powerful laser called the PETRA III.

The team managed to get a hydrogen molecule to absorb a photon (a particle of light) which then launched the escape of an electron (a negatively-charged particle) from it.

This then happened with the next hydrogen molecule, and then the other, a bit like a pebble skipping over the top of a pond.

This created a wave pattern, which scientists were able to measure using a Cold Target Recoil Ion Momentum Spectroscopy (or COLTRIMS for short) microscope.

The whole process took around 247 zeptoseconds - the shortest time to have been successfully recorded - pretty impressive!

The scientists hope this information will be helpful in quantum computing and superconductivity.