  Charge amplification in liquids could provide single-phase xenon time
projection chambers with background discrimination and fiducialisation
capabilities similar to those found in dual-phase detectors. Although efforts
to achieve the high electric field required for charge amplification and
proportional scintillation in liquid xenon have been previously reported, their
application to large-scale detectors remains elusive. This work presents a new
approach to this challenge, where - instead of the thin wire approach of
previous studies - a needle-like high-voltage electrode is employed to
demonstrate proportional charge amplification and secondary scintillation
production in liquid xenon. This is an important milestone towards the
development of an electrode structure that could be utilised in a large-scale,
single-phase time projection chamber with dual read-out.
