Observation of Spin Exchange Between the Singly IonizedXe+Ground State and the Metastable State of Neutral Xenon

We have observed spin-exchange collisions between the singly ionized ${}_{}{}^2{}_{}{}^{}P_{\frac{3}{2}}^{}{}_{}{}^{}$ ground state of Xe and the ${}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}P_2^{}{}_{}{}^{}$ metastable state of neutral Xe, both formed and aligned by electronic-impact excitation under space-charge neutralization. Extension to the rf spectroscopy of the ionized ground state of other noble-gas atoms seems promising.