The operative mechanism for a free-electron laser (FEL) with two consecutive helical wigglers having opposite circular polarization in the presence of an axial magnetic field is proposed and analysed. With the help of fluid theory, a tenth-degree polynomial dispersion equation for electromagnetic and space-charge waves is derived. The results are used to illustrate and discuss the dependence of growth rate on different system parameters. Finally, it is shown that for the same system parameters the growth rate of the proposed structure is more than the growth rate of instability in a conventional FEL.
