Preliminary results from a high-pressure imaging spectroscopic proportional counter

The concept, operational principle, and test results are presented for a new type of high-pressure high-spatial resolution proportional counter with enhanced spectroscopic capability. The detector in its baseline configuration is to be filled with a xenon/quench gas mixture at 5 bar and is to be sensitive over the 5-150 eV energy range. The position resolution will range from 0.5 mm at the lower energies to around 1 mm at the upper end of the energy range. The very high timing resolution of this new detector allows high count rate capacity and enables the application of the escape gating technique to achieve a high spectral resolution at energies above the xenon K edge.