Recent advancements of the experiment to search for 2K-capture in 124Xe using a Large Low-background Proportional Counter

Abstract

Abstract The new method for correcting the charge signal from the large proportional counter is proposed. The correction method makes possible to consider the loss of primary ionization electrons in the presence of weakly increasing microimpurities of electronegative gases during long-term measurements. It allows increasing the efficiency of the selection of useful events and thereby increasing the sensitivity to 2ν2K-decay in 124Xe at the level of 2 × 1022 y from over six years of measurements using a large proportional counter. Analysis of the calibration data, taking into account a new method for correcting the energy release in the detector, made it possible to register events from double K photoionization by a single photon.