Unambiguous atomic Bell measurement assisted by multiphoton states

Abstract

We propose and theoretically investigate an unambiguous Bell measurement of atomic qubits assisted by multiphoton states. The atoms interact resonantly with the electromagnetic field inside two spatially separated optical cavities in a Ramsey-type interaction sequence. The qubit states are postselected by measuring the photonic states inside the resonators. We show that if one is able to project the photonic field onto two coherent states on opposite sites of phase space, an unambiguous Bell measurement can be implemented. Thus, our proposal may provide a core element for future components of quantum information technology such as a quantum repeater based on coherent multiphoton states, atomic qubits and matter–field interaction.