Author: Gerth, C.
Paper Title Page
TUPSO64 Short SASE-FEL Pulses at FLASH 379
 
  • J. Rönsch-Schulenburg, E. Hass, A. Kuhl, T. Plath, M. Rehders, J. Roßbach
    Uni HH, Hamburg, Germany
  • G. Brenner, C. Gerth, U. Mavrič, H. Schlarb, E. Schneidmiller, S. Schreiber, B. Steffen, M. Yan, M.V. Yurkov
    DESY, Hamburg, Germany
 
  Funding: This project has been supported by BMBF under contract 05K10GU2 & FS FLASH 301
FLASH is a high-gain free-electron laser (FEL) in the soft x-ray range. This paper discusses the production of very short FEL pulses in the SASE-mode without an external seeding signal at FLASH in the optimal case the single-spike operation. A new photo-injector laser has been commissioned, which allows the generation of shorter bunches with low bunch charge directly at the photo-cathode. This shorter injector laser reduces the required bunch compression for short pulses and thus allows a stable SASE performance with shorter pulses. First SASE performance using the new injector laser has been demonstrated and electron bunch and FEL radiation properties have been measured. Beam dynamics as well as the optimization of bunch diagnostics for low charge and short bunches are discussed.