Generation of coherent radiation at nanometer and subnanometer wavelength with free-electron lasers (FELs) is a subject of great current interest, as shown by the many FEL being developed or built in Asia, Europe and the USA. This paper reviews the theoretical and experimental status of X-ray and Soft X-ray FELs. After a presentation of the main characteristics of LCLS, the Xray FEL now under construction at SLAC, we discuss the basic physical properties of short wavelength, single pass FELs. We show that the experimental results obtained from the late 1990's to today are in remarkable agreement with the theory. The final part discusses some of the directions for further developments.
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