Particle acceleration driven by a high power Ti: sapphire laser has invoked great interest worldwide because of the ultrahigh acceleration gradient. For the aspect of electron acceleration, electron beams with energies over GeV have been generated using the laser wakefield acceleration mechanism. For the optimization of the electron generation process, real-time electron parameter monitors are necessary. One of the key parameters of a high energy particle beam is the temporal distribution, which is closely related with the timing resolution in a pump-probe application. Here, we introduced the electro-optic sampling method to laser wakefield acceleration. Real-time multibunch structures were observed. Careful calculations on the physical processes of signal generation in an electro-optic crystal were performed. Discussions of the methodology are elaborated in detail.
Single-Shot Electro-Optic Sampling on the Temporal Structure of Laser Wakefield Accelerated Electrons