Laser-Generated Particles for Advanced Material Science

The advent of high-power ultra-short lasers has opened up the field of laser-driven particle acceleration, in particular proton and electron acceleration. The investigation of these laser-accelerated beams and its use is currently challenging many research laboratories worldwide, in particular for the improved characteristics of these sources such as compactness, versatility and tunability. However, the intrinsic features of these sources have a strong potential to innovate different applications, where recently a strong interest is given to application in the Material Science. In this paper I will present different applications using laser-generated protons in Material Science embracing several domains such as Cultural Heritage, Stress testing and Advanced Material Synthesis and where the characteristics of laser-accelerated particles are of advantage.