Measurement of the Spin Relaxation Time of Single Electrons in a Silicon MOS-Based Quantum Dot

We report on measurements of the spin relaxation time T1 of individual electron spins in the few electron regime of a Si/SiO2-based quantum dot (QD). Energy-spectroscopy of the QD has been performed using a charge sensing technique. The spin relaxation times are subsequently measured in the time-domain by a pump-and-probe method. For the QD that contains an unpaired spin, likely only a single electron, we find that T1 depends strongly on the applied magnetic field. Possible mechanisms leading to the observed spin relaxation are discussed.