Towards a demonstration of laser plasma based free electron laser amplificiation

One direction towards compact Free Electron Laser is to replace the conventional linac by a laser plasma driven beam, provided proper electron beam manipulation to handle the value of the energy spread and of the divergence. Applying seeding techniques also enables to reduce the required undulator length. Rapidly developing Laser Wakefield Accelerators (LWFA) are already able to generate synchrotron radiation. With the presently achieved electron divergence and energy spread an adequate beam manipulation through the transport to the undulator is needed for FEL amplification. A test experiment for the demonstration of FEL amplification with a LWFA is under preparation in the frame of the COXINEL ERC contract in the more general context of LUNEX5. Electron beam transport follows different steps with strong focusing thanks to variable strength permanent magnet quadrupoles, demixing chicane with conventional dipoles, and a second set of quadrupoles for further focusing in the undulator. Progress on the equipment preparation and expected performance are described.