Observation of autoionising states of xenon produced in collisions with H- ions

By means of electron spectroscopy we have studied the electron spectra generated in collisions between negative hydrogen ions and xenon at energies up to 6 keV. Much structure appears which, for electron energies above 6 eV, can be attributed to doubly excited autoionising states of xenon. Below 1.3 eV, the structure is due to a series of mono-excited Rydberg states, with a 2P1/2 core, that decay to the 2P3/2 continuum of Xe+. (author)