Optimizing decoherence in the generation of optical Schr\"odinger cat states

Abstract

We propose to use cavity Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency to generate Schr\"odinger cat states of optical photons. We predict that this should make it possible to generate states with relatively large mean photon numbers. With existing technology, mean photon numbers around 30 seem feasible. The main limitation is photon loss during the process, which generates the state. The ability to tune the strength of the photon loss caused by atomic spontaneous emission makes it possible to have little decoherence despite significant photon loss during the generation of the state.