Generation of pure, ionic entangled states via linear optics

In this paper, we propose a novel scheme to generate two-ion maximally entangled states from either pure product states or mixed states using linear optics. Our new scheme is mainly based on the ionic interference. Because the proposed scheme can generate pure maximally entangled states from mixed states, we denote it as purification-like generation scheme. The scheme does not need a Bell state analyzer as the existing entanglement generation schemes do, it also avoids the difficulty of synchronizing the arrival time of the two scattered photons faced by the existing schemes, thus the proposed new entanglement generation scheme can be implemented more easily in practice.