This unit measures extremely small electromotive forces and voltage differences, equal to one billionth of a volt (10⁻⁹ V). It is used in precision electronics, geophysics, and medical instrumentation like EEGs where signals are incredibly weak. Measuring at this scale requires specialized nanovoltmeters and extensive shielding to prevent thermal noise from swamping the reading.
Heard on the job
You'll need a lock-in amplifier to pull a five nanovolt signal out of that background noise.
Also heard as
- nano-volt
- nV