Resorcinol/formaldehyde (RF) foam resin is an attractive material as a low-density target in high-power laser–plasma experiments because of its fine network structure, transparency in the visible region, and low-Z element (hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen) composition. In this study, we developed disk-shaped RF foam and deuterated RF foam targets with 40–200 μm thickness and approximately 100 mg/cm³ density having a network structure from 100 nm to a few micrometers cell size. By deuteration, the polymerization rate was drastically slowed down owing to kinetic isotope effects. These targets were used in high-power laser experiments where a megaelectronvolt proton beam was successfully generated.

The deformable mirror with the size of 410 mm468 mm controlled by the bimorph piezoceramic plates and multilayer piezoceramic stacks was developed. The results of the measurements of the response functions of all the actuators and of the surface shape of the deformable mirror are presented in this paper. The study of the mirror with a Fizeau interferometer and a Shack–Hartmann wavefront sensor has shown that it was possible to improve the flatness of the surface down to a residual roughness of 0:033 mm (RMS). The possibility of correction of the aberrations in high-power lasers was numerically demonstrated.