Lifetime of the XeII6p 4P5/20 level using the fast-beam-laser method

The lifetime of the Xe II 5p46p 4P5/20 level is measured by selective laser excitation of a fast beam of metastable 5p45d 4D7/2 xenon ions and observations of the fluorescent light intensity as a function of flight time. Comparison of the obtained mean lifetime tau =7.53+or-0.15 ns with earlier measurements confirms the results of the photon-photon delayed-coincidence technique.