A High-Brilliance Angstrom-FEL based on the LHeC

The Large Hadron electron Collider (LHeC) is a proposed future particle physics project colliding 60 GeV electrons from a recirculating energy-recovery linac (ERL) with 7 TeV protons stored in the LHC. The ERL technology allows for much higher beam current and, therefore, higher luminosity than a traditional linac. The high-current high-energy electron beam can also be used to drive a free electron laser (FEL). In this study we investigate the performance of an LHeC based FEL, operated in the self-amplified spontaneous emission mode, for which we choose a final electron beam energy of 40 GeV and aim for X-ray wavelengths of less than 1 ˚A. We demonstrate that such FEL would have the potential to provide orders of magnitude higher peak power, peak brilliance and average brilliance, than any other FEL either existing or proposed.