Recent development and future perspectives of low energy laser shock peening

•The review presents a detailed approach of low energy laser shock peening and processing parameters involved in it.•The future challenges and opportunities for low energy laser shock peening on ferrous, aluminum and titanium alloy have discussed.•The possibilities of laser shock peening on crystals for semiconductor and optoelectronic applications have overviewed.•Also, the possibilities of laser shock peening on metal matrix composites are introduced.

The first part of the review involves the parameters controlling and optimization of low energy laser shock peening process. The second part presents the effect of laser peening without coating on ferrous, aluminum and titanium alloys. Therefore, the recently developed techniques and challenges on it are discussed. Opportunities to tackle the current challenges are overviewed. Finally, in the third part, the future perspectives of low energy laser peening on metal matrix composites and single crystals for several typical applications are deliberated.