The response of xenon gas proportional scintillation counters to K α and Kβ fluorescence-escape events

A xenon gas proportional scintillation counter was used to compare the pulse-height distributions of events in which fluorescence X-rays from xenon escape detection. We observe that the xenon gas detector response to X-ray events that deposit the same energy in the detector is different according to the nature of the fluorescence-escape event. Experimental results are presented and the observed behavior is confirmed using Monte Carlo simulation. The difference between Kα and K_β fluorescence escape events for the same deposited energy can be as high as 6.6 electrons (140 eV). The results indicate that particular care must be taken when using escape peaks for energy calibration of xenon gas detectors