Preparation of superpositions of SU(2) coherent states of the motion of a trapped ion.

Abstract

A scheme is presented for the generation of superpositions of two two-mode SU(2) coherent states of the motion for a trapped ion. In the scheme an ion is trapped in a two-dimensional isotropic harmonic potential and driven by two resonant laser beams. Under certain conditions, the motional two-mode SU(2) cat state can be generated after a conditional measurement on the internal state following the ion-laser interaction.