Optical π Phase Shift Created with a Single-Photon Pulse

A deterministic photon-photon quantum-logic gate is a long-standing goal. Building such a gate becomes possible if a light pulse containing only one photon imprints a phase shift of $\pi$ onto another light field. Here we experimentally demonstrate the generation of such a $\pi$ phase shift with a single-photon pulse. A first light pulse containing less than one photon on average is stored in an atomic gas. Rydberg blockade combined with electromagnetically induced transparency creates a phase shift for a second light pulse which propagates through the medium. Postselected on the detection of a retrieved photon from the first pulse, we measure a $\pi$ phase shift of the second pulse. This demonstrates a crucial step toward a photon-photon gate and offers a variety of applications in the field of quantum information processing.