Transverse-coherence properties of the free-electron-laser FLASH at DESY.

A general theoretical approach based on the decomposition of statistical fields into a sum of independently propagating transverse modes was used for the analysis of the coherence properties of the new free-electron laser source FLASH operated at 13.7 nm wavelength. The analysis shows that several transverse modes are contributing to the total radiation field of FLASH. The results of theoretical calculations are compared with measurements using Young's double-slit experiment. The coherence lengths in the horizontal and in the vertical directions 20 m downstream from the source are estimated at 300 and 250 microm, respectively.