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Reference.org
Spontaneous parametric down-conversion
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<p>Spontaneous parametric down-conversion (also known as SPDC, parametric fluorescence or parametric scattering) is a nonlinear instant optical process that converts one photon of higher energy (namely, a pump photon) into a pair of photons (namely, a signal photon, and an idler photon) of lower energy, in accordance with the <a href="/facts/Law_of_conservation_of_energy/12CdN4Ik">law of conservation of energy</a> and <a href="/facts/Law_of_conservation_of_momentum/TTkGv5eY">law of conservation of momentum</a>. It is an important process in <a href="/facts/Quantum_optics/xcvuB9n9">quantum optics</a>, for the generation of <a href="/facts/Photon_entanglement/afzslwN0">entangled photon</a> pairs, and of single photons. </p>