Abstract
We propose a scheme for generating an N-atom cluster state via cavity quantum electrodynamics (CQED). In our scheme, there is no transfer of quantum information between the atoms and the cavity, i.e., the cavity is always in the vacuum state, so the cavity decay can be suppressed. Also, the generated cluster state is the entanglement of the ground states, so the atomic spontaneous emission can be avoided. Therefore, the cluster state generated in our scheme has a longer lifetime. Furthermore, the requirement on the quality factor of the cavity greatly loosened for the cavity is only virtually excited.