Emma, C. Ding, Y. Huang, Z. Lutman, A.A. Marcus, G. Marinelli, A. Pellegrini, C. WEP075 electron radiation undulator simulation FEL 2015 2015-12 We study the generation of short (sub 10 fs) pulses in the X-ray spectral region using an energy chirped electron beam in a Self Amplified Spontaneous Emission Free Electron Laser (SASE FEL) and a self-seeding monochromator [1]-[2]. The monochromator filters a small bandwidth, short duration pulse from the frequency chirped SASE spectrum. This pulse is used to seed a small fraction of the long chirped beam, hence a short pulse with narrow bandwidth is amplified in the following undulators. We present start-to-end simulation results for LCLS operating in the soft X-ray self-seeded mode with an energy chirp of 1% over 30 fs and a bunch charge of 150pC. We demonstrate the potential to generate ~5 fs pulses with a bandwidth ~0.3eV. We also assess the possibility of further shortening the pulse by utilizing one more chicane after the self-seeding stage and shifting the radiation pulse to a 'fresh' part of the electron beam. Experimental study on this short pulse seeding mode has been planned at the LCLS.