Because the next SI unit is 1000 times larger, measurements of 10−17 and 10−16 second are typically expressed as tens or hundreds of attoseconds.
Judging from the difference in the timing of these two pulses, the scientists obtained a very precise measurement of how long it took the electron to decay (how many attoseconds).
[17] These pulses have been used to explore the detailed physics of atoms and molecules and have potential applications in fields ranging from electronics to medicine.
Scientists start with a gas of neon atoms and ionize them with a single ultrashort burst of UV radiation measured in attoseconds.
[19] The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L'Huillier for demonstrating a way to create "almost unimaginably" short pulses of light, measured in attoseconds.