Michelson interferometer design for Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) applications in the 15-1.5 Aa wavelength range

In recent years the continuing development of linac-driven X-Ray Free Electron Laser (XRFEL) designs has significantly expanded the parameter space associated with 3rd and earlier-generation synchrotron radiation sources. In particular, in contrast to the >100 ps pulse durations typical of storage rings, temporal lengths extending down to the <100 fs regime will become available. For example, for the SLAC Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) a pulse duration of ∼200-300 fs with finer temporal features extending down to ∼1 fs is anticipated. The characterization of the phase space distributions of such pulses poses a significant challenge for instrumentation design both with regard to the brevity of the pulse structure as well as the X-ray (15-1.5 Aa) wavelength range of the FEL line. In this paper we assess a Michelson interferometer design aimed at characterizing the coherence length of the SLAC LCLS and discuss considerations related to its operation