Valley polarization in Si(100) at zero magnetic field

The valley splitting, which lifts the degeneracy of the lowest two valley states in a SiO2/Si(100)/SiO2 quantum well, is examined through transport measurements. We demonstrate that the valley splitting can be observed directly as a step in the conductance defining a boundary between valley-unpolarized and -polarized regions. This persists to well above liquid helium temperature and shows no dependence on magnetic field, indicating that single-particle valley splitting and valley polarization exist in (100) silicon even at zero magnetic field.