Comparison of Compression Schemes for CLARA

CLARA (Compact Linear Advanced Research Accelerator)at Daresbury Laboratory is proposed to be the UK's national FEL test facility. The accelerator will be a ~250 MeV electron linac capable of producing short, high brightness electron bunches. The machine comprises a 2.5cell RF photocathode gun, one 2 m and three 5 m normal conducting S-band (2998MHz) accelerating structures and a variable magnetic compression chicane. CLARA will be used as a test bed for novel FEL configurations. We present a comparison of acceleration and compression schemes for the candidate machine layout.