Phase control for entanglement preparation in two-qubit systems

The theory of Quantum Control is starting to lay bridges with the field of Quantum Information and Quantum Computation. Using key ideas of laser control of the dynamics by means of phase manipulation and adiabatic passage, we review laser schemes that allow entanglement preparation in a two-qubit system. The schemes are based on sequences that use four time-delayed pulses, with or without concerted decay, in or off resonance with the intermediate levels of the qubit space. We show how to control the fidelity and phase of the entanglement, as well as the sensitivity of the preparation to the different pulse parameters. In general the schemes provide an improvement in robustness and in the finesse of the control to phase, with respect to previously proposed schemes based on sequences of $\pi$ pulses.