We report on the transport properties of a silicon single‐electron transistor at 4.2 K. A quantum dot is formed in the inversion layer of a silicon metal‐oxide‐semiconductor field‐effect transistor with a dual‐gate structure by introducing controllable tunnel barriers in the narrow channel. Periodic current oscillations due to the single‐electron charging effect have been observed. Furthermore, current in the Coulomb blackade regime is explained by the inelastic cotunneling theory at finite temperatures. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.