Unconventional geometric quantum phase gates with a cavity QED system

We propose a scheme for realizing two-qubit quantum phase gates via an unconventional geometric phase shift with atoms in a cavity. In the scheme the atoms interact simultaneously with a highly detuned cavity mode and a classical field. The atoms undergo no transitions during the gate operation, while the cavity mode is displaced along a circle in the phase space, aquiring a geometric phase conditional upon the atomic state. Under certain conditions, the atoms are disentangled with the cavity mode and thus the gate is insensitive to both the atomic spontaneous emission and the cavity decay.