Generation of electromagnetic waves by nonrelativistic charged particle interaction with metal surfaces

In this paper, different aspects of transition radiation generation in optical and SHF ranges have been experimentally studied. UV luminescence induced by nonrelativistic protons passing through silver foil was measured at different incident angles. Luminescence continuous light spectrum has one maximum near 326 nm. It corresponds to the wavelength of silver volume plasmon excitation. The origin of light generation in this wavelength band is discussed.Besides, we describe our experimental results on SHF electromagnetic radiation generation produced by nonrelativistic electron bunches passing through diaphragms of various geometries. The results are in a good agreement with predictions of transition radiation theory for nonrelativistic charged particles passing through apertured conducting screens.