A uniform laser ablation was observed in a polystyrene film coated with a photovoltaic perylene/phthalocyanine bilayer when an incident took place at an intensity range of 10(9)-10(10) W/cm(2) (lambda = 1064 nm, 1.1 ns FWHM). Without the bilayer coating, the laser pulse formed spiky structures in the polystyrene film as self-focusing traces of the laser pulse, while for the coated film, the uniform surface ablation trace without the spiky interior structures was observed. In the case of incident of 532 nm where the coating material exhibits no reflection, such difference depending the coating was not observed. These phenomena were coupled with the reflection and conduction properties via its photovoltaic effect, and agreed with the required ablation to achieve high-density compression of the fuel capsule for inertial fusion energy (IFE). (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V All rights reserved.