I plot math functions on a form where 2 axes orthogonal to each other are represented. I divide them in steps and plot ticks and labels. For the horizontal labels, the steps are such that there is a sufficient distance (clearance) between 2 consecutive ones to prevent it from looking crowded.

Now the problem is when I want to represent a very very short range of values, for example:

From 3.453870 to 3.453880 using 10 steps of value=10-6

so that I would have consecutive labels like 3.453876 and 3.453877 and would probably overlap. Even a reduced number of steps would produce an impression of cramming.

For this example I had thought of using the scientific notation for the labels in the following fashion:
6E-6, 7E-6, ... which would be the offsets to be added to a base placed in a label at the right hand side of the axis, like
"+ 3.453870".

That's what I could come up with, but I wonder if anyone has ever had to do the same thing and could provide a more clever idea.