Letter Designation L band

Frequency range 1 to 2 GHz

Wavelength range 15 cm to 30 cm

Typical uses military telemetry, GPS, mobile phones (GSM), amateur radio weather radar, surface ship radar, and some communications satellites (microwave ovens, microwave devices/communications, radio astronomy, mobile phones, wireless LAN, Bluetooth, ZigBee, GPS, amateur radio) long-distance radio telecommunications satellite communications, radar, terrestrial broadband, space communications, amateur radio

S band

2 to 4 GHz

7.5 cm to 15 cm

C band X band Ku band K band Ka band Q band U band V band E band W band

4 to 8 GHz 8 to 12 GHz 12 to 18 GHz

3.75 cm to 7.5 cm 25 mm to 37.5 mm 16.7 mm to 25 mm

F band

D band

satellite communications radar, satellite communications, 18 to 26.5 GHz 11.3 mm to 16.7 mm astronomical observations 26.5 to 40 GHz 5.0 mm to 11.3 mm satellite communications satellite communications, terrestrial 33 to 50 GHz 6.0 mm to 9.0 mm microwave communications, radio astronomy, automotive radar 40 to 60 GHz 5.0 mm to 7.5 mm millimeter wave radar research and other 50 to 75 GHz 4.0 mm to 6.0 mm kinds of scientific research 60 to 90 GHz 3.3 mm to 5 mm UHF transmissions satellite communications, millimeter-wave radar research, military radar targeting and 75 to 110 GHz 2.7 mm to 4.0 mm tracking applications, and some nonmilitary applications SHF transmissions: Radio astronomy, microwave devices/communications, wireless LAN, most modern radars, 90 to 140 GHz 2.1 mm to 3.3 mm communications satellites, satellite television broadcasting, DBS, amateur radio EHF transmissions: Radio astronomy, high-frequency microwave radio relay, 110 to 170 GHz 1.8 mm to 2.7 mm microwave remote sensing, amateur radio, directed-energy weapon, millimeter wave scanner

Electromagnetic Spectrum

The electromagnetic spectrum is the distribution of electromagnetic radiation according to energy (or equivalently, by virtue of the relations in the previous section, according to frequency or wavelength).

Regions of the Electromagnetic Spectrum

The following table gives approximate wavelengths, frequencies, and energies for selected regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Spectrum of Electromagnetic Radiation

Region Radio Microwave Infrared Visible Ultraviolet X-Rays Gamma Rays Wavelength (Angstroms) > 109 109 - 106 106 - 7000 7000 - 4000 4000 - 10 10 - 0.1 < 0.1 Wavelength (centimeters) > 10 10 - 0.01 0.01 - 7 x 10-5 7 x 10-5 - 4 x 10-5 4 x 10-5 - 10-7 10-7 - 10-9 < 10-9 Frequency (Hz) < 3 x 109 3 x 109 - 3 x 1012 3 x 1012 - 4.3 x 1014 4.3 x 1014 - 7.5 x 1014 7.5 x 1014 - 3 x 1017 3 x 1017 - 3 x 1019 > 3 x 1019 Energy (eV) < 10-5 10-5 - 0.01 0.01 - 2 2-3 3 - 103 103 - 105 > 105

The notation "eV" stands for electron-volts, a common unit of energy measure in atomic physics. A graphical representation of the electromagnetic spectrum is shown in the figure below.

The electromagnetic spectrum

Thus we see that visible light and gamma rays and microwaves are really the same things. They are all electromagnetic radiation; they just differ in their wavelengths.

The Spectrum of Visible Light

The visible part of the spectrum may be further subdivided according to color, with red at the long wavelength end and violet at the short wavelength end, as illustrated (schematically) in the following figure.

The visible spectrum

Radio spectrum
Radio spectrum refers to the part of the electromagnetic spectrum corresponding to radio frequencies that is, frequencies lower than around 300 GHz (or, equivalently, wavelengths longer than about 1 mm).

Band name Abbreviation Tremendously low frequency Extremely low frequency Super low frequency Ultra low frequency Very low frequency TLF ELF SLF ULF

ITU band

VLF

Low frequency Medium frequency

LF

MF

High frequency

HF

Frequency and Example uses wavelength in air < 3 Hz Natural and man-made > 100,000 km electromagnetic noise 330 Hz Communication with submarines 100,000 km 10,000 km 30300 Hz Communication with submarines 10,000 km 1000 km 3003000 Hz Submarine communication, 1000 km 100 km Communication within mines Navigation, time signals, 330 kHz submarine communication, 100 km 10 km wireless heart rate monitors, geophysics Navigation, time signals, AM 30300 kHz longwave broadcasting (Europe 10 km 1 km and parts of Asia), RFID, amateur radio 3003000 kHz AM (medium-wave) broadcasts, 1 km 100 m amateur radio, avalanche beacons Shortwave broadcasts, citizens' band radio, amateur radio and over-the-horizon aviation communications, RFID, Over-the330 MHz horizon radar, Automatic link 100 m 10 m establishment (ALE) / Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS) radio communications, Marine and mobile radio telephony

Very high frequency

VHF

30300 MHz 10 m 1 m

Ultra high frequency

UHF

3003000 MHz 1 m 100 mm

Super high frequency

SHF

10

330 GHz 100 mm 10 mm

Extremely high frequency

EHF

11

30300 GHz 10 mm 1 mm

Terahertz or Tremendously THz or THF high frequency

12

3003,000 GHz 1 mm 100 m

FM, television broadcasts and line-of-sight ground-to-aircraft and aircraft-to-aircraft communications. Land Mobile and Maritime Mobile communications, amateur radio, weather radio Television broadcasts, microwave ovens, microwave devices/communications, radio astronomy, mobile phones, wireless LAN, Bluetooth, ZigBee, GPS and two-way radios such as Land Mobile, FRS and GMRS radios, amateur radio Radio astronomy, microwave devices/communications, wireless LAN, most modern radars, communications satellites, satellite television broadcasting, DBS, amateur radio Radio astronomy, high-frequency microwave radio relay, microwave remote sensing, amateur radio, directed-energy weapon, millimeter wave scanner Terahertz imaging a potential replacement for X-rays in some medical applications, ultrafast molecular dynamics, condensedmatter physics, terahertz timedomain spectroscopy, terahertz computing/communications, submm remote sensing, amateur radio