An experimental and analytical study of thin laser-accelerated flyer plates in a confined geometry is presented. Its objective is to improve the coupling efficiency between the flyer kinetic energy and the laser energy. Performed with a 7 &mgr;m thick aluminum flyer integrated in a three-layered target using a Nd:YAG laser (1.06 &mgr;m wavelength and a pulse duration of 8 ns FWHM), this study consists in finding the best ablating material of the first layer, responsible for the plasma generation. Flyer velocities between 2 and 5.5 km/s have been achieved for the 1–7 GW/cm2laser power density range. Best results yield coupling efficiencies of almost 50&percent;. ©2000 American Institute of Physics.