• L. Giannessi, M.C. Carpanese, F. Ciocci, G. Dattoli, A. Dipace, A. Doria, G.P. Gallerano, E. Giovenale, G. Parisi, M. Quattromini, A. Renieri, C. Ronsivalle, E. Sabia, S. Spampinati, I.P. Spassovsky
  ENEA C.R. Frascati, Frascati (Roma)
• D. Alesini, M.E. Biagini, A. Drago, M. Ferrario, V. Fusco, A. Ghigo, B. Spataro, C. Vaccarezza, C. Vicario
  INFN/LNF, Frascati (Roma)
• M. Bougeard, B. Carre, M.-E. Couprie, D. Garzella, M. LABAT, G. Lambert, H. Merdji, P. Salieres
  CEA/Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette
• M. Mattioli, P. Musumeci, M. Petrarca
  Universita di Roma I La Sapienza, Roma
• M.  Migliorati, L. Palumbo
  Rome University La Sapienza, Roma
• M. Nisoli, S. Stagira, S. de Silvestri
  Politecnico/Milano, Milano
• L. P. Poletto, G. T. Tondello
  Univ. degli Studi di Padova, Padova

Funding: Work supported by the EU Commission in the sixth framework programme, contract no. 011935 – EUROFEL.

Sources based on high order harmonics generated in gas with high power Ti:Sa lasers pulses represent promising candidates as seed for FEL amplifiers for several reasons, as spatial and temporal coherence, wavelength tunability and spectral range, which extends down to the 10(-9)m wavelength scale. This communication is devoted to the description of a research work plan that will be implemented at the SPARC FEL facility in the framework of the EUROFEL programme. The main goal of the collaboration is to study and test the amplification and the FEL harmonic generation process of an input seed signal obtained as higher order harmonics generated both in crystal (400nm and 266 nm) and in gas (266nm, 160nm, 114nm) from a high intensity Ti:Sa laser pulse.

• G.P. Gallerano, A. Doria, E. Giovenale, G. Messina, I.P. Spassovsky
  ENEA C.R. Frascati, Frascati (Roma)

Two THz FEL sources are available at ENEA-Frascati covering the spectral range from 90 GHz to 0.7 THz. The first source, the ENEA Compact FEL, is based on a 5 MeV Microtron providing 4 A of peak current in 13 ps bunches. Peak power in excess of 3kW is obtained at 130 GHz. When the beam is focused, a peak E-field greater than 2 kV/cm can be obtained in the micropulse. The second source, FEL-CATS, is based on a 2.5 MeV RF Linac. After the Linac electrons enter a RF device that correlates their distribution in energy and phase. As a result a strong coherent spontaneous emission occurs in the undulator. Power up to several kW has been measured in the macropulse. The absence of a resonator results in a broad band emission from 0.4 to 0.7 THz. The peculiar temporal structure of the emitted radiation allows the investigation of the effects of high peak power, while maintaining a low average power incident on the sample. A variety of biological systems have been studied with the ENEA Compact FEL in the frame of the European project THz-BRIDGE. More recently a reflective THz imaging setup has been developed and devoted to the study of hydric stress conditions in living plants.

One of the authors, I.P. Spassovsky, acknowdleges support from an ENEA-ICTP fellowship

• L. Palumbo
  Rome University La Sapienza, Roma
• D. Alesini, M. Bellaveglia, S. Bertolucci, M.E. Biagini, R. Boni, M. Boscolo, M. Castellano, A. Clozza, G. Di Pirro, A. Drago, A. Esposito, M. Ferrario, D. Filippetto, V. Fusco, A. Gallo, A. Ghigo, S. Guiducci, M.  Migliorati, A. Mostacci, L. Pellegrino, M.A. Preger, C. Sanelli, M. Serio, F. Sgamma, B. Spataro, A. Stella, F. Tazzioli, C. Vaccarezza, M. Vescovi, C. Vicario
  INFN/LNF, Frascati (Roma)
• F. Alessandria, A. Bacci
  INFN/LASA, Segrate (MI)
• F. Broggi, S. Cialdi, C. De Martinis, D. Giove, C. Maroli, M. Mauri, V. Petrillo, M. Rome, L. Serafini
  INFN-Milano, Milano
• L. Catani, E. Chiadroni, A. Cianchi, C. Schaerf
  INFN-Roma II, Roma
• F. Ciocci, G. Dattoli, A. Doria, F. Flora, G.P. Gallerano, L. Giannessi, E. Giovenale, G. Messina, P.L. Ottaviani, G. Parisi, L. Picardi, M. Quattromini, A. Renieri, C. Ronsivalle
  ENEA C.R. Frascati, Frascati (Roma)
• P. Emma
  SLAC, Menlo Park, California
• M. Mattioli
  Universita di Roma I La Sapienza, Roma
• P. Musumeci
  INFN-Roma, Roma
• S. Reiche, J.B. Rosenzweig
  UCLA, Los Angeles, California

The first phase of the SPARX project, now funded by MIUR (Research Department of Italian Government), is an R&D activity focused on developing techniques and critical components for future X-ray FEL facilities. This project is the natural extension of the activities under development within the ongoing SPARC collaboration. The aim is the generation of electron beams characterized by an ultra-high peak brightness with a linear accelerator based on the upgrade of the existing Frascati 800 MeV LINAC and to drive a single pass FEL experiment in the range of 3-5 nm, both in SASE and SEEDED FEL configurations, exploiting the use of superconducting and exotic undulator sections. In this paper we discuss the present status of the collaboration.