In the interaction of ultra-short and ultra-intense laser pulses with the film target, the target-normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) is considered as an efficient acceleration scheme to gain energetic ions and is studied intensively. The reason is that the space-charge field on the backside of the target is much more intense and longer lasting, so the acceleration ions have a good collimation and mono-energetic spectrum. The theoretical model, experimental results and simulation are introduced, then the optimal target structure to generate high quality ion beams is analyzed, and finally the progress of the TNSA at home and aboard is summarized.