Studies of Undulator Tapering for the CLARA FEL

Undulator tapering is a well-known method for enhancing the performance of free-electron lasers [1]. It works by keeping the resonant wavelength constant, despite variation in the electron beam energy. Both the energy-extraction efficiency and the spectral brightness of the FEL can be improved using this technique. In this paper we present recent studies of undulator tapering for the CLARA FEL in both SASE and seeded modes. The methods used to optimise the taper profile are described, and the properties of the final FEL pulses are compared.
Proceedings of the 37th International Free Electron Laser Conference, FEL2015, Daejeon, Republic of Korea