Radiative Recoil in the Vavilov-Cherenkov Effect with Excitation of Surface Plasmons

Abstract

An effect that is an analogue to the Vavilov-Cherenkov effect in a uniform space would be observed in a space with a boundary of well reflecting light metal-dielectric. The main difference is in that quanta of some electron volt would be excited by an electron of energy of some tens of electron volts. This would become possible because the surface plasmon velocity is very small as compared with the velocity of waves of a uniform space. Beetwen excited plasmons there is a plasmon with a linear momentum as high as the doubled initial momentum of the electron.