  In distributed quantum computation, small devices composed of a single or a
few qubits are networker together to achieve a scalable machine. Typically
there is an optically active matter qubit at each node, so that photons are
exploited to achieve remote entanglement. However, in many systems the
optically active states are unstable or poorly defined. We report a scheme to
perform a high-fidelity entanglement operation even given severe instability.
The protocol exploits the existence of optically excited states for phase
acquisition without actually exciting those states; it functions with or
without cavities and does not require number resolving detectors.
