Common name | Frequency range | Wavelength range | Sources and methods of production | Example usage |
Low fequency radiation | < 10 kHz | > 30 km | acoustic transducers, LC and RC generators | electroacoustics, energy industry, telephony |
Radio waves | 10 kHz - 3 THz | 100 µm - 30 km | LC, RC generators, masers | radio, television, telecommunications, radiolocation, radioastronomy, medicine |
Infrared | 300 GHz - 395 THz | 759 nm - 1 mm | heated bodies, lasers, radiant lamps, the sun | telecommunications, medicine, heating, material processing, IR spectroscopy |
Visible range | 395 THz - 790 THz | 380 nm - 759 nm | mercury lamps, heated bodies, lasers, the sun, luminescence | telecommunications, photography, optics, quantitative analysis |
Ultraviolet (UV) | 790 THz - 30 PHz | 10 nm - 380 nm | lasers, mercury lamps, sun, gas discharge, quartz lamps | telecommunications, photography, optics, quantitative analysis |
X-ray | 30 PHz - 30 EHz | 10 pm - 10 nm | X-ray tube, decay of radioactive elements | telecommunications, photography, optics |
Gamma radiation | > 3 EHz | < 100 pm | cosmic rays, accelerators, X-ray tubes, decay of radioactive elements | medicine, defectoscopy, nuclear physics |
Common name | Frequency range | Wavelength range | Sources and methods of production | Example usage |
Radio waves (long) | 10 kHz - 300 kHz | 1 km - 30 km | LC, RC generators, masers | radio in ITU I region (Europa, Africa) |
Radio waves (medium) | 300 kHz - 3 MHz | 100 m - 1 km | LC, RC generators, masers | radio, non-directional radio beacons, DGPS reference stations, meteorological reports |
Radio waves (short) | 3 MHz - 30 MHz | 10 m - 100 m | LC, RC generators, masers | amateur radio (ham radio) |
Radio waves (ultra-short, VHF) | 30 MHz - 300 MHz | 10 dm - 10 m | LC, RC generators, masers | terrestrial television, radio broadcasting, pager network |
Radio waves (UHF) | 300 MHz - 3 GHz | 10 cm - 10 dm | LC, RC generators, masers | television, mobile telephony, Wi-Fi networks, bluetooth |
Micro-waves | 3 GHz - 3 THz | 100 µm - 10 cm | vacuum tubes, field-effect transistor (FET), tunnel diodes, Gunn diodes, IMPATT diodes | microwave radars, radar speed measurement, inter-satellite communication, microwave oven |
Color | Frequency range | Wavelength range |
Red | 389 THz - 491 THz | 611 nm - 771 nm |
Yellow | 517 THz - 535 THz | 561 nm - 580 nm |
Green | 535 THz - 612 THz | 490 nm - 561 nm |
Blue | 612 THz - 625 THz | 480 nm - 490 nm |
Violet | 652 THz - 789 THz | 380 nm - 460 nm |
Band symbol | Frequency range | Wavelength range |
1 GHz - 2 GHz | 1 dm - 3 dm | |
2 GHz - 4 GHz | 8 cm - 1 dm | |
4 GHz - 8 GHz | 4 cm - 8 cm | |
8 GHz - 12 GHz | 3 cm - 4 cm | |
12 GHz - 18 GHz | 2 cm - 3 cm | |
18 GHz - 26 GHz | 1 cm - 2 cm | |
26 GHz - 40 GHz | 8 mm - 1 cm | |
300 GHz - 300 GHz | 1 mm - 1 mm |
Band symbol | Frequency range | Wavelength range |
< 250 MHz | > 1 m | |
250 MHz - 500 MHz | 6 dm - 1 m | |
500 MHz - 1 GHz | 3 dm - 6 dm | |
1 GHz - 2 GHz | 1 dm - 3 dm | |
2 GHz - 3 GHz | 10 cm - 1 dm | |
3 GHz - 4 GHz | 8 cm - 10 cm | |
4 GHz - 6 GHz | 5 cm - 8 cm | |
6 GHz - 8 GHz | 4 cm - 5 cm | |
8 GHz - 10 GHz | 3 cm - 4 cm | |
10 GHz - 20 GHz | 2 cm - 3 cm | |
20 GHz - 40 GHz | 8 mm - 2 cm | |
40 GHz - 60 GHz | 5 mm - 8 mm | |
60 GHz - 100 GHz | 3 mm - 5 mm |