Electron injector for compact staged high energy accelerator

An electron injector for multi-stage laser wakefield experiments is presented. It consists of a variable length gas cell of small longitudinal dimension (⩽10mm). The gas filling process in this cell was characterized both experimentally and with fluid simulation. Electron acceleration experiments were performed at two different laser facilities. Results show low divergence and low pointing fluctuation electron bunches suitable for transport to a second stage, and a peaked energy distribution suitable for injection into the second stage wakefield accelerator.