Kondo Effect in Carbon Nanotube Single-Electron Transistors

Recently, Coulomb blockade physics was observed at room temperature in a carbon nanotube single-electron transistor (H. W. Ch. Postma, et. al., Science 293, 76 (2001)). In this work, we suggest that these devices may be promising for studying the Kondo effect. In particular, they could allow for a detailed investigation of the 2-channel Kondo fixed point. Moreover, fabricating a similar device in a short nanotube could be promising for studying the effect of a magnetic impurity in an ultrasmall metallic grain. Experimental signatures of the Kondo effect in these systems is discussed.