Generation of SU(2) Coherent States for a Cavity Mode and a Collective Atomic Mode

We propose a scheme for generation of SU(2) coherent states for an atomic ensemble and a cavity mode. In the scheme a collection of two-level atoms resonantly interact with a single-mode quantized field. Under certain conditions, the system can evolve from a Fock state to a highly entangled SU(2) coherent state. The operation speed increases as the number of atoms increases, which is important in view of decoherence.