GENERATION OF ULTRA-SHORT ELECTRON BUNCHES AT FLASH ∗

In order to produce radiation pulses of a few femtoseconds at FELs like FLASH, different concepts have been proposed. Probably the most robust method is to create an electron bunch, which is in the most extreme case as short as one longitudinal optical mode. For FLASH this translates into a bunch length of a few micrometers only and thus in order to mitigate space charge effects, the bunch charge needs to be about 20 pC. The technical requirements to achieve this goal are discussed. This includes beam dynamics studies to optimize the injection and compression of small charge electron bunches. A reduced photo injector laser pulse duration helps to relax the RF tolerance which scales linear with the compression factor. A new photo injector laser with sub-picosecond pulse duration in combination with a stretcher is used to optimize the initial bunch length. The commissioning of the new laser system and first experiments are described. Limitations of the presently available electron beam diagnostics at FLASH for short, low charge bunches are analyzed. Improvements of the longitudinal phase space diagnostics and the commissioning of a more sensitive bunch arrival time monitor are described.