The design status and R&D plan of a 1.5 angstrom SASE-FEL at SLAC, called the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), are described. The LCLS utilizes one third of the SLAC linac for the acceleration of electrons to about 15 GeV. The FEL radiation is produced in a long undulator and is directed to an experimental area for its utilization. The LCLS is designed to produce 300 fsec long radiation pulses at the wavelength of 1.5 angstrom with 9 GW peak power. This radiation has much higher brightness and coherence, as well as shorter pulses, than present third generation sources. It is shown that such leap in performance is now within reach, and is made possible by the advances in the physics and technology of photo- injectors, linear accelerators, insertion devices and free- electron lasers.

Date Published: 19 July 1999
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 3614, Free-Electron Laser Challenges II, (19 July 1999); doi: 10.1117/12.352656

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3614:
Free-Electron Laser Challenges II
Harold E. Bennett; David H. Dowell, Editor(s)