  The lightest Xenon isotopes are studied in the framework of the Interacting
Shell Model (ISM). The valence space comprises all the orbits lying between the
magic closures N=Z=50 and N=Z=82. The calculations produce collective deformed
structures of triaxial nature that encompass nicely the known experimental
data. Predictions are made for the (still unknown) N=Z nucleus 108-Xe. The
results are interpreted in terms of the competition between the quadrupole
correlations enhanced by the pseudo-SU(3) structure of the positive parity
orbits and the pairing correlations brought in by the 0h11/2 orbit. We have
studied as well the effect of the excitations from the 100-Sn core on our
predictions.
  We show that the backbending in this region is due to the alignment of two
particles in the 0h11/2 orbit. In the N=Z case, one neutron and one proton
align to J=11 and T=0. In 110-Xe and 112-Xe the alignment begins in the J=10
T=1 channel and it is dominantly of neutron neutron type. Approaching the band
termination the alignment of a neutron and a proton to J=11 and T=0 takes over.
In a more academic mood, we have explored the role of the isovector and
isoscalar pairing correlations on the structure on the yrast bands of 108-Xe
and 110-Xe and examined the role of the isovector and isoscalar pairing
condensates in these N~Z nuclei.
