First lasing of the regenerative amplifier FEL

The regenerative amplifier free-electron laser (RAFEL) is a high-gain RF-linac FEL capable of producing high optical power from a compact design. The combination of a high-gain and small optical feedback enables the FEL to reach saturation and produce a high optical power and high extraction efficiency without the risk of optical damage to the mirrors. This paper summarizes the first lasing of the regenerative amplifier FEL and describes recent experimental results. The highest optical energy achieved thus far at 16.3 μm is 1.7 J over a train of 900 micropulses. We infer pulse energy of 1.9 mJ in each 16 ps micropulse, corresponding to a peak power of 120 MW.