  Recently a scheme has been proposed for constructing quantum error-correcting
codes that embed a finite-dimensional code space in the infinite-dimensional
Hilbert space of a system described by continuous quantum variables. One of the
difficult steps in this scheme is the preparation of the encoded states. We
show how these states can be generated by coupling a continuous quantum
variable to a single qubit. An ion trap quantum computer provides a natural
setting for a continuous system coupled to a qubit. We discuss how encoded
states may be generated in an ion trap.
