Conditions for optimal construction of two-qubit non-local gates

Optimal implementation of quantum gates is crucial for designing a quantum computer. The necessary condition for optimal construction of a two-qubit unitary operation is obtained. It can be proved that the B gate is the unique gate that can construct a two-qubit universal circuit with only two applications, i.e. this condition is also sufficient in the case of two applications of the elementary two-qubit gate. It is also shown that one half of perfect entanglers can not simulate an arbitrary two-qubit gate with only 3 applications.