The paper discusses recent advances in the use of foams in
laser–plasma experiments, concerning in particular: (1)
the use of foam in order to get an efficient smoothing of laser
energy deposition, (2) the problem of hydrodynamics of layered
foam-payload targets, (3) the use of foam for shock pressure
amplification in equation-of-state experiments, (4) the study
of the equation of state of foams in the Megabar regime, and
(5) the use of foams for astrophysics relevant experiments,
here in particular shock acceleration experiments.
