We propose experimental methods to engineer reservoirs at arbitrary temperature which are feasible with current technology. Our results generalize to mixed states the possibility of quantum state engineering through controlled decoherence. Finite-temperature engineered reservoirs can lead to the experimental observation of thermal entanglement—the appearance and increase of entanglement with temperature—to the study of the dependence of finite-time disentanglement and revival with temperature, quantum thermodynamical effects, and others, enlarging the comprehension of temperature-dependent entanglement properties. Our proposal is discussed in detail in two model systems, consisting of different modes of a single photon and a trapped-ion system.

• Received 29 May 2014
• Revised 7 September 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.90.042103