Experimental realization of entangled coherent states in two-dimensional harmonic oscillators of a trapped ion

Entangled coherent states play pivotal roles in various fields such as quantum computation, quantum communication, and quantum sensing. We experimentally demonstrate the generation of entangled coherent states with the two-dimensional motion of a trapped ion system. Using Raman transitions with appropriate detunings, we simultaneously drive the red and blue sidebands of the two transverse axes of a single trapped ion and observe multi-periodic entanglement and disentanglement of its spin and two-dimensional motion. Then, by measuring the spin state, we herald entangled coherent states of the transverse motions of the trapped ion and observe the corresponding modulation in the parity of the phonon distribution of one of the harmonic oscillators. Lastly, we trap two ions in a linear chain and realize Mølmer–Sørensen gate using two-dimensional motion.