Laser ablation threshold measurements has been carried out by the nanosecond-class Nd:YAG laser at LNS-INFN in Catania. Advanced targets, such as hydrogen-enriched silicon slabs and sub-micro structured polymeric samples, have been investigated. The estimated ablation fluences are correlated to recent experimental and theoretical results on high intensity laser driven ion acceleration. Characteristics of H-atoms/protons and heavier atoms/ions coming out from the bulk of the irradiated target or from surface contaminants have been determined by optical and time-of-flight spectroscopy as well as mass quadrupole spectrometry. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.