Interaction of high-intensity laser pulses with matter is attractive owing to the wide field of applications, such as secondary light sources, X-ray or gamma generation[1,2], electron[3], and ion[4,5] acceleration. Over the years different schemes for laser-based electron and ion acceleration were proposed, such as laser-wakefield acceleration (LWFA)[6], target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA)[7], radiation pressure acceleration (RPA)[8], and collisionless shock acceleration[9]. Improving laser–matter coupling in each of these mechanisms requires specific and delicate target design, such as specially designed gas jets, mass-limited and nanostructured solid targets[10–12]. A particularly promising ion acceleration scheme is one whereby a high-intensity laser interacts with a structured dynamic plasma target[13]. In this mechanism the laser pulse interacts with microstructured ice targets, sometimes plainly referred to as “snow,” deposited on a sapphire substrate[14]. Such an interaction is assumed to benefit from the localized enhancement of the laser electrical field intensity near the tip of the microstructured whisker. Snow targets have shown an enhancement in proton energy using a moderate-power laser system[15]. These targets are ideal structures for proton acceleration because they are rich in hydrogen and can be generated within the experimental chamber during the experiment. In addition, the residual parasitic debris left after the interaction of the laser with such snow targets is water vapor that does contaminate and damage the laser optics. Snow targets were later improved by deposition of snow on the substrate with pre-fabricated nucleation centers and by controlling the aspect ratio of the snow pillars ranging from 1.4 to 3, by varying the flow rate of the water vapor during the deposition[14]. Nevertheless, the size of individual ice pillar structures, in that case, greatly exceeds the focal spot size of the laser (~10 μm2).