Xenon-neon gas proportional-scintillation counters for X-rays below 2 keV: experimental results

The energy spectra of X-rays with energies below 2 keV measured with standard Xe filled gas proportional-scintillation counters at atmospheric pressure exhibit a distorted tail toward the low energy region, due to the loss of electrons to the detector entrance window. In this framework, a Monte Carlo simulation study taking into account these losses has previously investigated the use of Xe-Ne mixtures as gas proportional scintillation counters (GPSC) fillings. It was shown that the addition of Ne to Xe reduces spectra distortion and improves the overall detector performance. In the present work, we present an experimental study of the performance of a GPSC for different Xe-Ne mixtures and X-ray energies in the 200 to 2000 eV energy range and compare the results with the previously obtained Monte Carlo data.