Microstructure-Driven Shock Dynamics in Aerogel and Two-Photon Polymerization Foams for IFE Target Design

The realization of inertial fusion energy (IFE) requires scalable target platforms with well-characterized material response and high-repetition-rate manufacturability (Ma et al., 2021; Dunne et al., 2011; Prencipe et al., 2017). We report direct measurements of shock propagation in low-density aerogel and two-photon polymerization (TPP) lattice foams (17.5–500 mg/cm³) using Talbot X-ray phase contrast imaging (XPCI) (Valdivia et al., 2021; Pérez-Callejo et al., 2022; Galtier et al., 2025) and VISAR diagnostics. Aerogels exhibit smooth, quasi-planar shock fronts with small deviations from classical scaling due to pore-collapse dissipation (Rigon et al., 2021), while TPP foams demonstrate strongly modulated, anisotropic propagation governed by periodic lattice geometry. (Dattelbaum et al., 2020) These differences are directly visualized using Talbot-XPCI and correlated with VISAR breakout patterns, providing complementary early- and late-time dynamics. xRAGE hydrodynamic simulations underpredict shock speeds (Karr et al., 2019), but capture key structural features.

This work constrains IFE target design by showing how shock velocity, dissipation, and morphology scale with foam density and microstructure. TPP lattice periodicity seeds mesoscale perturbations unless spacings fall below several microns (Milovich et al., 2021), setting a practical limit for AM-target architectures. These results are especially relevant as AM-based wetted-foam capsules gain traction for IFE due to their potential for rapid, low-cost production. (Olson et al., 2021; Kawata et al., 2001) This first dataset of TPP foam shock response under high-energy-density conditions provides benchmarks for radiation-hydrodynamic model validation and capsule optimization for future high-throughput IFE systems.