Entangling two distant atoms by interference of polarized photons

A scheme to generate the entanglement between two distant atoms by the interference of polarized photons is proposed. The model consists of two identical /spl Lambda/-type three-level atoms trapped in two distant optical cavities respectively. Each atom has a excited state |e> and two degenerate ground states |g/sub L/> and |g/sub R/>. The scheme is based on the interference effect where the coherent superposition of atomic states is generated in photon emission process. The scheme gives several advantages: (i) both atoms are excited simultaneously; (ii) the driving condition does not influence the fidelity of the final entangled states; and (iii) the influence of atomic recoil on the entanglement fidelity could be eliminated.