Micrometers to Nanometers Converter

How many nanometers are in a micrometer?

A micrometer is 1,000 nanometers. The prefixes tell the story: micro- is 10^-6 and nano- is 10^-9, so it takes 1,000 of the smaller unit to span one of the larger. In meters, 1 μm = 0.000001 m and 1 nm = 0.000000001 m.

nanometers = micrometers × 1000To reverse it, divide nanometers by 1000.

The factor is exact, so the conversion is just a decimal shift three places to the right: 0.55 μm becomes 550 nm and 12.3 μm becomes 12,300 nm.

Where this conversion comes up

Optics and electronics split their measurements between the two units. Infrared sensors and lasers are commonly specified in micrometers (a CO2 laser works near 10.6 μm), whereas visible light is usually quoted in nanometers: roughly 400 nm for violet and 700 nm for red. In micrometers, the same visible band runs from about 0.4 to 0.7 μm.

Semiconductor and materials work spans the same boundary. Film thicknesses and particle sizes might be reported in μm while feature sizes and wavelengths are in nm. For reference, the width of a DNA double helix is about 2 nm, which is 0.002 μm. Having one converter for the step between them avoids order-of-magnitude slips.

How to convert micrometers to nanometers

1. Enter the length in micrometers (μm) in the first field.
2. Read the nanometers (nm) in the second field.
3. Sanity-check: the number in nanometers must be a thousand times the number in micrometers.

Example 1. Green light at 0.55 μm: 0.55 × 1000 = 550 nm.

Example 2. A 2.5 μm particle: 2.5 × 1000 = 2,500 nm.

Example 3. A 0.0003 μm feature: 0.0003 × 1000 = 0.3 nm, roughly the width of a single atom.

Larger lengths in micrometers are easier to follow in millimeters; the micrometers to millimeters converter divides by 1,000 instead.

Micrometers to nanometers conversion table

Common mistakes

• Dividing instead of multiplying. Nanometers are the smaller unit, so the count must go up. A result smaller than the input means the division went the wrong way.
• Confusing the symbols. μm (micrometer) and mm (millimeter) look alike in small print, yet differ by a factor of 1,000.
• Forgetting the medium. Tabulated wavelengths normally refer to vacuum or air. Inside glass or water light travels more slowly and its wavelength becomes shorter.

For the opposite direction, from smaller units back up, see the millimeters to micrometers converter.