We investigate electron-ion recombination in nanoplasmas produced by the
ionization of rare-gas clusters with intense femtosecond extreme-ultraviolet
(XUV) pulses. The relaxation dynamics following XUV irradiation is studied
using time-delayed 790-nm pulses, revealing the generation of a large number
of excited atoms resulting from electron-ion recombination. In medium-sized
Ar-Xe clusters, these atoms are preferentially created in the Xe core within
10 ps after the cluster ionization. The ionization of excited atoms serves as
a sensitive probe for monitoring the cluster expansion dynamics up to the ns
time scale
