Control of seeding phase for a cascaded laser wakefield accelerator with gradient injection

We demonstrated experimentally the seeding-phase control for a two-stage laser wakefield accelerator with gradient injection. By optimizing the seeding phase of electrons into the second stage, electron beams beyond 0.5 GeV with a 3% rms energy spread were produced over a short acceleration distance of ∼2 mm. Peak energy of the electron beam was further extended beyond 1 GeV by lengthening the second acceleration stage to 5 mm. Time-resolved magnetic field measurements via magneto-optical Faraday polarimetry allowed us to monitor the processes of electron seeding and acceleration in the second stage.