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 |GHZn>, W state |Wn>, Dicke state |Dn,k>, and certain sums of Dicke states |Gn,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.