Natural xenon is composed of nine stable isotopes. Before 1962, it had generally been assumed that xenon and other noble gases were unable to form compounds. Evidence has been mounting in the past few years that xenon, as well as other members of zero valance elements, do form compounds. Xenon trioxide, which is highly explosive, has been prepared. More than 80 xenon compounds have been made with xenon chemically bonded to fluorine and oxygen.
Some xenon compounds are colored.
Metallic xenon has been produced, using several hundred kilobars of pressure. Xenon in a vacuum tube produces a beautiful blue glow when excited by an electrical discharge. The gas is used in making electron tubes, stoboscopic lamps, bactericidal lamps, and lamps used to excite ruby lasers for generating coherent light. Xenon is used in the nuclear energy field in bubble chambers, probes, and other applications where a high molecular weight is of value. The perxenates are used in analytical chemistry as oxidizing agents.