  We observed a light-induced enhancement of the tunneling current propagating
through an array of parallel carbon chains anchored between gold nanoparticles
(NPs). In the presence of laser radiation characterized by a wavelength close
to the plasmon resonance of the NPs, the current-voltage characteristics of
carbon bundle tunnelling junctions demonstrate a pronounced asymmetry between
positive and negative bias values. Such an asymmetry is typical for a Schottky
junction, in general. The resistance of the tunnel junction decreases with the
increase of the optical pumping intensity. We associate the observed effect
with an injection of `hot' carriers created in Au NPs due to the decay of the
surface plasmons accompanied by the charge transfer to the carbon bundles. The
observed phenomenon can be used for non-resonant excitation of excitonic states
in low-dimensional carbon-based structures for single-photon emission, as well
as for photovoltaic applications.
