Italian power analysis company ENEA (Italian Nationwide Company for New Applied sciences, Vitality and Sustainable Financial Growth) has printed new outcomes displaying how finely-architected exactly engineered additively manufactured foams behave when struck by high-power nanosecond laser pulses. Described in a 4 June 2025 arXiv pre-print by Mattia Cipriani et al., the work pairs experiments on ENEA’s 40 J “ABC” Nd:glass laser on the Frascati Analysis Centre, Italy, with full 3D FLASH radiation-hydrodynamics simulations to quantify ablation speeds and laser-scattering mechanisms essential to future inertial-confinement-fusion (ICF) goal design.
ICF is a technique of reaching nuclear fusion through the use of intense power bursts (often lasers or particle beams) to quickly compress and warmth a small gasoline pellet, sometimes product of deuterium and tritium, two isotopes of hydrogen.
This examine underscores a pivotal shift: additive manufacturing isn’t only a prototyping instrument: it’s now being validated as a precision-engineered materials route for high-energy physics. The settlement between full-physics simulations and bodily diagnostics marks a step towards predictive fusion design utilizing micro-AM.
Be part of AM leaders at AMAA 2025 to debate the way forward for Aerospace, Area, and Defence.
Excessive-intensity irradiation
The analysis workforce collaborated with the Laser Nanophotonics Group at Vilnius College (Lithuania) to manufacture 500 µm-wide log-pile lattices by way of two-photon-polymerization (2PP) laser direct writing. Printed in SZ2080 hybrid photopolymer and held in stereolithography-printed fixtures, the constructions featured 39 µm filament spacing, 14 µm strut diameters, and a bulk density of 0.35 g cm⁻³.
Single 5 ns, 1054 nm pulses have been targeted to 50 µm or 100 µm spots, delivering intensities from 1.3 × 10¹⁴ W cm⁻² to 7 × 10¹⁴ W cm⁻² by goal thicknesses of 100–400 µm. Time-resolved diagnostics included streak-camera imaging, quick photodiodes for mirrored/transmitted mild, and visual spectroscopy to observe laser-plasma instabilities.
Simulations validate “erosion-wave” mannequin
4 FLASH runs reproduced the precise lattice geometry and laser cone, revealing two limiting circumstances: beams centered on filament crossings (“C”) and on through-holes (“H”). Channeling within the H geometry prompted fast volumetric heating and earlier breakthrough, whereas C pictures ablated extra slowly. Predicted erosion-wave breakout occasions of 6.4–9.4 ns translated to velocities between 24 µm ns⁻¹ and 31 µm ns⁻¹, respectivel.
Streak photos confirmed common erosion speeds of 25 µm ns⁻¹ at decrease depth and 29 µm ns⁻¹ at peak depth, squarely inside simulation bounds. Close to-zero transmission and extremely variable reflectivity pointed to sturdy in-lattice scattering, whereas time-integrated spectra captured two-plasmon-decay emission, underlining the complicated density gradients contained in the increasing foam.
Why it issues
Designer foams promise to tame laser imprinting, increase absorption, and host superior “wetted-foam” gasoline layers in direct-drive ICF capsules. By displaying quantitative settlement between experiment and first-principles 3D simulation, the ENEA–Vilnius examine validates each the manufacturing route and the modelling instruments wanted to engineer next-generation fusion targets.
Standardization and high-speed upgrades push two-photon polymerization towards manufacturing
2PP has quickly matured since ENEA first conceived its architected-foam goal marketing campaign. In 2024, a TU Wien–Caltech–UpNano workforce established the primary bulk-specimen mechanical benchmarks for 2PP components, proving the method could be certified for demanding purposes. Earlier, in 2020 Vienna-based UpNano harnessed a one-watt laser and adaptive-resolution optics to slash construct occasions whereas preserving sub-micron constancy. Collectively these advances body ENEA’s newest work as a part of a broader pattern: micro-AM platforms have gotten quick, repeatable, and well-characterized sufficient to provide next-generation fusion targets and different high-performance purposes.
Register for our upcoming occasion Additive Manufacturing Benefit: Aerospace, Area and Protection.
What 3D printing tendencies must you be careful for in 2025?
How is the way forward for 3D printing shaping up?
To remain updated with the most recent 3D printing information, don’t overlook to subscribe to the 3D Printing Trade publication or observe us on Twitter, or like our web page on Fb.
Whilst you’re right here, why not subscribe to our Youtube channel? That includes dialogue, debriefs, video shorts, and webinar replays.
Featured picture exhibits the experimental structure of ENEA’s ABC Nd:glass laser marketing campaign, displaying fast-photodiode, streak-camera and spectrometer positions
