Engineering long spin coherence times of spin-orbit systems
Spin-orbit coupling fundamentally alters spin qubits, opening pathways to improve the scalability of quantum computers via long distance coupling mediated by electric fields, photons, or phonons. It also allows for new engineered hybrid and topological quantum systems. However, spin qubits with intrinsic spin-orbit coupling are not yet viable for quantum technologies due to their short ($\sim1~μ$s) coherence times $T_2$, while qubits with long $T_2$ have weak spin-orbit coupling making qubit coupling short-ranged and challenging for scale-up. Here we show that an intrinsic spin-orbit coupled "generalised spin" with total angular momentum $J=\tfrac{3}{2}$, which is defined by holes bound to boron dopant atoms in strained $^{28}\mathrm{Si}$, has $T_2$ rivalling the electron spins of donors and quantum dots in $^{28}\mathrm{Si}$. Using pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance, we obtain $0.9~\mathrm{ms}$ Hahn-echo and $9~\mathrm{ms}$ dynamical decoupling $T_2$ times, where strain plays a key role to reduce spin-lattice relaxation and the longitudinal electric coupling responsible for decoherence induced by electric field noise. Our analysis shows that transverse electric dipole can be exploited for electric manipulation and qubit coupling while maintaining a weak longitudinal coupling, a feature of $J=\tfrac{3}{2}$ atomic systems with a strain engineered quadrupole degree of freedom. These results establish single-atom hole spins in silicon with quantised total angular momentum, not spin, as a highly coherent platform with tuneable intrinsic spin-orbit coupling advantageous to build artificial quantum systems and couple qubits over long distances.