Long-lived valley states in bilayer graphene quantum dots
Bilayer graphene is a promising platform for electrically controllable qubits in a two-dimensional material. Of particular interest is the ability to encode quantum information in the so-called valley degree of freedom, a two-fold orbital degeneracy that arises from the symmetry of the hexagonal crystal structure. The use of valleys could be advantageous, as known spin- and orbital-mixing mechanisms are unlikely to be at work for valleys, promising more robust qubits. The Berry curvature associated with valley states allows for electrical control of their energies, suggesting routes for coherent qubit manipulation. However, the relaxation time of valley states -- which ultimately limits these qubits' coherence properties and therefore their suitability as practical qubits -- is not yet known. Here, we measure the characteristic relaxation times of these spin and valley states in gate-defined bilayer graphene quantum dot devices. Different valley states can be distinguished from each other with a fidelity of over 99%. The relaxation time between valley triplets and singlets exceeds 500ms, and is more than one order of magnitude longer than for spin states. This work facilitates future measurements on valley-qubit coherence, demonstrating bilayer graphene as a practical platform hosting electrically controlled long-lived valley qubits.