Dr. Marion Kuhlmann; Hasylab, Germany

FLASH, the Free-Electron Laser in Hamburg, is the first and currently only free-electron laser for VUV and soft X-ray radiation, and has started user operation in summer 2005. It is operated in the ’self-amplified spontaneous emission’ (SASE) mode and currently it covers a wavelength range from 6.5 nm to 50 nm with GW peak power and pulse durations between 10 fs and 50 fs. Approximately 20 weeks of beam time are provided per year for scientific experiments that are not possible on any other radiation source. The presentation will give an overview of the concepts, the facility, the user runs, some of the user experiments and the plans for the future from a photon diagnostics point of view, focusing on the link between the machine operation and the user community.