The surface proton spin polarization created by the spin-polarization-induced nuclear Overhauser effect from optically polarized xenon can be transferred in a subsequent step by solid-state cross polarization to another nuclear spin species such as 29Si. The technique exploits the dipolar interactions of xenon nuclear spins with high gamma nuclei such as 1H, and is experimentally simpler than direct polarization transfer from 129Xe to heteronuclei such as 13C and 29Si. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.