Quantum entanglement distribution with hybrid parity gate

We propose a scheme for entanglement distribution among different single atoms trapped in separated cavities. In our scheme, by reflecting an input coherent optical pulse from a cavity with a single trapped atom, a controlled phase-shift gate between the atom and the coherent optical pulse is achieved. Based on this gate and homodyne detection, we construct an n-qubit parity gate and show its use for the distribution of a large class of entangled states in one shot, including the GHZ state |GHZ{sub n}>, W state |W{sub n}>, Dicke state |D{sub n,k}>, and certain sums of Dicke states |G{sub n,k}>. We also show that such a distribution could be performed with high success probability and high fidelity even in the presence of channel loss.