Phonon-limited valley life times in single-particle bilayer graphene quantum dots

The valley degree of freedom in honeycomb crystals such as 2D semiconductors, graphene and bilayer graphene is a promising carrier of quantum information alongside spin and charge. This is all the more true since gate-controlled single-particle quantum dots (QDs) have been demonstrated in bilayer graphene (BLG), paving the way for the realisation of spin and valley qubits. Although long spin relaxation times have recently been reported in BLG QDs, nothing is known about single-particle valley lifetimes. Here we report single-particle valley relaxation times (T_1 times) exceeding several microseconds in electrostatically defined BLG QDs. The observed dependence of T_1 on the perpendicular magnetic field can be understood qualitatively and quantitatively by a model in which T_1 is limited by electron-phonon coupling. We identify coupling to acoustic phonons via the bond length change and via the deformation potential as the limiting mechanisms.