Optical photons do not interact in vacuum. Therefore, we employ a single atom strongly coupled to a cavity to mediate interactions between photons, first, within a single light field and, second, in two different light fields. For the former, we demonstrate a two-photon blockade whereby the absorption of two photons blocks further excitation. For the latter, we realize strong nonlinear coupling between photons in different cavity modes which can either mutually block each other or only transit the system conjunctly.
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Optical photons do not interact in vacuum. Therefore, we employ a single atom strongly coupled to a cavity to mediate interactions between photons, first, within a single light field and, second, in two different light fields. For the former, we demonstrate a two-photon blockade whereby the absorption of two photons blocks further excitation. For the latter, we realize strong nonlinear coupling between photons in different cavity modes which can either mutually block each other or only transit t...
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