Side gated silicon quantum wires of nominally uniform 60 nm/70 nm width, 40 nm height, and 4 &mgr;m/6 &mgr;m length have been fabricated in the silicon-on-insulator configuration. Measurements of the current–voltage characteristics at a temperature of 2.0 K show significant nonlinearities including a zero conductivity blockade region and conductance peaks suggestive of single electron behavior. The blockade size is significantly affected by application of a gate potential and oscillations of the blockade and wire conductivity with gate potential are also observed. These features are explained by a single electron tunneling model of a multiple island system. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.