Spin filling of valley–orbit states in a silicon quantum dot

We report the demonstration of a low-disorder silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor (Si MOS) quantum dot containing a tunable number of electrons from zero to N = 27. The observed evolution of addition energies with parallel magnetic field reveals the spin filling of electrons into valley-orbit states. We find a splitting of 0.10 meV between the ground and first excited states, consistent with theory and placing a lower bound on the valley splitting. Our results provide optimism for the realisation in the near future of spin qubits based on silicon quantum dots.