All maximally entangling unitary gates

We characterize all maximally entangling bipartite unitary operators, acting on systems $A,B$ of arbitrary finite dimensions $d_A\le d_B$, when use of ancillary systems by both parties is allowed. Several useful and interesting consequences of this characterization are discussed, including an understanding of why the entangling and disentangling capacities of a given (maximally entangling) unitary can differ and a proof that these capacities must be equal when $d_A=d_B$.