Nanosecond

A nanosecond (ns) is one billionth of a second (10-9 s).

The word nanosecond is formed by the prefix nano and the unit second. Its symbol is ns.

A nanosecond is equal to 1000 picoseconds or 1/1000 microsecond. Because the next SI unit is 1000 times larger, times of 10-8 and 10-7 seconds are typically expressed as tens or hundreds of nanoseconds.

Times of this magnitude are commonly encountered in telecommunications, pulsed lasers and some areas of electronics.[1]