Current enhancement with alternating gate voltage in the Coulomb-blockade regime of a single-wall carbon nanotube

We investigated the current–voltage characteristics of a carbon nanotube in a single electron transistor structure with alternating gate voltage. A continuous current enhancement effect with increasing frequency of the applied gate voltage up to 13 MHz is reported. Assuming that I=nef, more than 1000 electrons are driven to flow across the source–drain channel at VDS=100 mV, 13 MHz of gate voltage (Vp-p=2 V) and T=1.8 K. The continuous current enhancement is explained by the broadening effect of the discrete energy levels of the finite-length carbon nanotube.