Gamma ray spectra from targets irradiated by picosecond lasers

Photon spectra in the energy range 60 keV to 1 MeV were recorded from targets irradiated by the LLNL Titan and LLE EP picosecond lasers. The radiation consisted of K-shell radiation, bremsstrahlung radiation from MeV electrons, and preliminary evidence for 511 keV positron annihilation radiation. The spectra were recorded by two instruments, an energy-dispersive CCD detector with a CsI phosphor coating that operated in the single-hit per pixel mode and was absolutely calibrated using a Cs-137 662 keV source, and a wavelength-dispersive Cauchois type spectrometer employing a curved Ge(220) transmission crystal that operated in the first and second diffraction orders with high spectral resolution. The calibrated photon energy distributions from Au, Eu, and Al targets are compared to the energetic electron distributions emerging from the targets.