Experimental and analytical study of a high gain self amplified spontaneous emission free electron laser operating in a large spectral bandwidth regime

The drive to create and measure ultra-short pulses in the x-ray regime advances the ongoing development of free electron lasers (FEL). Several proposed schemes, to shorten the pulse length of the radiation, involve driving the FEL with a chirped (linear longitudinal phase space correlation) electron beam in the self amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) mode. This dissertation examines the experiments conducted under such conditions, canvassing analytical and numerical studies of beam dynamics and radiation properties, experimental observations, and descriptions of the development of novel diagnostics.; The VISA (Visible-Infrared SASE Amplifier) program has achieved saturation at 840 nm within a 4 m long undulator. A novel bunch compression mechanism during transport was discovered and ultimately responsible for the high peak current required to drive the FEL. Start-to-end simulations, detailing the dynamics from electron beam inception at the photocathode to the FEL radiation properties at the undulator, were successfully benchmarked to observable data.; The VISA II experiment is an extension of this SASE FEL operating under different experimental conditions. Driving the SASE FEL with a chirped electron beam requires maintaining the chirp throughout transport by the use of sextupole magnets to correct for second-order compression effects. The emitted radiation is frequency chirped, diagnosed via a modified frequency resolved optical gating (FROG) technique. Specific numerical simulations and diagnostic developments are presented.; A set of measurements, without sextupole corrections, displays anomalous features, namely large spectral bandwidth of the radiation at stable and sustained high gain lasing. The bandwidth has an rms value of 21 nm (12% full width), previously unobserved in a FEL. In addition, the far-field angular distribution yields a hollow mode structure, similar to earlier results yet more pronounced in angle. Start-to-end simulations reproduced the most striking features of this radiation and yielded insight into the mechanisms of the unexpected behavior. It was deduced that the dominant source of the pulse broadening is the off-axis emission which emits coherently into angles as large as 2.5 mrad. A diagnostic to measure the spectral angular distribution of the FEL intensity was developed. These findings and experimental schemes are detailed in this dissertation.