Quantum metrology for non-linear phase shifts with entangled coherent states

We investigate the phase enhancement of quantum states subject to non-linear phase shifts. The optimal phase estimation of even entangled coherent states (ECSs) is shown to be better than that of NOON states and of odd ECS states with the same average particle number <n> and non-linearity exponent k. We investigate the creation of approximate ECSs (AECSs) from a squeezed vacuum with current optical technology methods and find that a pure AECS is even slightly better than an even ECS for large <n>. We also examine simple but physically relevant cases of loss in the non-linear interferometer arm, for a fixed <n>.