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The transport and monochromatization of synchrotron light from a high brilliant laser-like source to the experimental station without significant loss of brilliance and coherence is a challenging task in X-ray optics and requires optical elements of utmost accuracy. These are wave-front preserving plane mirrors with lengths of up to 1 m characterized by residual slope errors in the range of 0.05 μrad (rms) and values of 0.1 nm (rms) for micro-roughness. In the case of focusing optical elements like elliptical cylinders the required residual slope error is in the range of 0.25 μrad rms and better. In addition the alignment of optical elements is a critical and beamline performance limiting topic. Thus the characterization of ultra-precise reflective optical elements for FEL-beamline application in the free and mounted states is of significant importance. We will discuss recent results in the field of metrology achieved at the BESSY-II Optics Laboratory (BOL) of the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB) by use of the Nanometer Optical Component Measuring Machine (NOM). Different types of mirror have been inspected by line-scan and slope mapping in the free and mounted states. Based on these results the mirror clamping of a combined mirror/grating set-up for the BL-beamlines at FLASH was improved.

At the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) free electron laser in Hamburg (FLASH) an infrared (IR) beamline is being built to allow novel pump-and-probe experiments combining coherent IR pulses with the FEL radiation in the VUV spectral range. It will provide useful IR radiation generated by a purpose built undulator over the wavelength range from 200 μm to 10 μm and possibly even shorter. The commissioning of the beamline has started this summer and first light will be delivered to the experimental hall by autumn 2007. Another important application of the beamline will be electron diagnostics of the longitudinal charge distribution of the electron bunches.