The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) project at SLAC uses a dense 15 GeV electron beam passing through a long undulator to generate extremely bright x-rays at 1.5 angstroms. The project requires electron bunches with a nominal peak current of 3.5kA and bunch lengths of 0.020mm (70fs). The bunch compression techniques used to achieve the high brightness impose challenging tolerances on the accelerator RF phase and amplitude. The results of measurements on the existing SLAC linac RF phase and amplitude stability are summarised and improvements needed to meet the LCLS tolerances are discussed.
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