Generation and control of spin-orbit entanglement in atomic pairs

Abstract

We propose a method for producing entangled spin and orbital states in pairs of atoms resulting from the dissociation of diatomic molecules. The method employs the interference between a one-photon and a two-photon process to break the backward-forward symmetry of the dissociation processes. The spin entanglement of distant atom pairs makes use of excited spin-orbit-coupled (molecular) intermediate states. When the dissociating molecules are confined to a one-dimensional optical lattice, the method can be used to generate long sequences of (spin- and orbit-) entangled pairs of atoms.