Current designs of targets for the National Ignition Facility require the development of novel nanoscale materials such as ultra-low density nanoporous metal foams, nano-crystalline metal and diamond films. This talk will provide an overview of nanoporous metal foams with an emphasis on the unusual mechanical and chemical properties caused by the extremely high surface-to-volume ratio. Supplemental surface science studies helped us to better understand the processes determining the morphology and stability of these materials.

This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract of No.W-7405-Eng-48.