Probing ultrafast foam homogenization with grating-based X-ray dark-field imaging
Microstructured foams are emerging as a promising class of targets, with applications ranging from laser-driven particle acceleration to inertial confinement fusion. To unlock their full potential, a deeper understanding of their properties, especially the changes and behavior of the microstructure under extreme conditions, is required. While recently advancing 3D printed foam targets can be observed by X-ray radiography, the microstructure in chemically produced targets is far below the spatial resolution of conventional radiography. To overcome this limitation, we apply grating-based X-ray dark-field imaging to observe structural changes in foams that are rapidly heated by laser-accelerated proton pulses. The experimental data is compared to synthetic dark-field values obtained from hydrodynamic simulations of a simplified foam model. Both experimental and simulation results demonstrate the viability of utilizing grating-based dark-field imaging for observing microstructural changes in foam targets.
Authors
- G. Anton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2039-4724)
- A. Mozzanica (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8372-815X)
- B. Albertazzi
- J. Hornung (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5336-6191)
- P. Neumayer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5156-8830)
- Pascal Meyer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5454-7739)
- Stephan Schreiner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9627-4115)
- Michel Koenig (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2430-7328)
- B. Zielbauer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2462-7536)
- E. Fröjdh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3142-643X)
- L. Wegert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4729-7262)
- Thilo Michel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2960-0611)
- S. Funk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2012-0080)
- S. Le Pape (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1906-9043)
- Constantin Rauch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4333-6359)
- A. S. Martynenko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6904-9601)
- Yang Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4188-1230)
- Markus Schneider (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6279-2476)
Institutions
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research (DE)
- Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE)
- Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR)
- Paul Scherrer Institute (CH)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Laboratoire pour l'Utilisation des Lasers Intenses (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2025-11-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-30010-8
- Primary Topic
- Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
- University of Chicago
- University of Rochester
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Office of Science
- National Nuclear Security Administration
- GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung