Optimal Simulation of a Perfect Entangler

A $2\otimes 2$ unitary operation is called a perfect entangler if it can generate a maximally entangled state from some unentangled input. We study the following question: How many runs of a given two-qubit entangling unitary operation is required to simulate some perfect entangler with one-qubit unitary operations as free resources? We completely solve this problem by presenting an analytical formula for the optimal number of runs of the entangling operation. Our result reveals an entanglement strength of two-qubit unitary operations.