A metric unit of energy representing 10^-18 joules, denoted by the symbol aJ. It is used in quantum mechanics, photonics and nanoscale computing to quantify the energy of single photons or the switching energy of advanced logic gates. One unit is roughly equivalent to the energy of a single photon of extreme ultraviolet light.
Heard on the job
We're trying to push the switching energy of the new optical transistor below one attojoule to reduce the total thermal load.