The synchronous firing of dense and strongly ionized plasmas with the time structure of bunched and energetic multicharged ion beams allows us to probe, for the first time, the long searched for enhanced plasma stopping and enhanced projectile charge at the target exit. Correlated ion stopping of charged debris resulting from the fragmentation of energetic cluster ions focusing on Au foam converters is considered for indirectly driving a thermonuclear capsule. The one-dimensional (1D) simulation of converter time evolution demonstrates a very high conversion efficiency of projectile energy into hard x-ray photons building up a very hot ( eV) thermal bath. Intense and energetic cluster ion beams thus demonstrate considerable potential as a novel driver for inertial confinement fusion.