Ablation loading efficiency of carbon nanostructured foams produced with the pulsed laser deposition technique

Porous materials have particular advantages for a variety of applications in inertial confinement fusion. To identify suitable new materials for these applications, it is important to investigate their interaction with high-power lasers and the associated plasma evolution. In this work, we report on the results of an experimental campaign performed at the ABC laser facility, employing carefully characterized nanostructured carbon foams obtained with the pulsed laser deposition technique. The enhancement of the ablation loading due to the foam buffer is evaluated by comparing the volume of the crater left after the interaction among different samples. Particular foam parameters and morphology are found to increase the ablation loading by producing a larger crater volume. Visible side-on streak camera images confirm these results. The absorption efficiency is investigated by time-resolved measurement of the laser light collected by focusing lenses and acquired by two fast photodiodes.