Spectroscopy using tunable diode lasers is an area of research that has gone through a dramatic evolution over the last few years, principally because of new exciting approaches in the field of atomic and molecular spectroscopy. This article attempts to review major recent advancements in the field of diode laser based spectroscopy. The discussion covers the developments made so far in the field of diode lasers and illustrates comprehensively the properties of free-running diode lasers. Since the commercially available free-running diode lasers are not suitable for high-precision spectroscopic studies, various techniques developed so far for converting these free-running diode lasers into true narrow linewidth tunable laser sources are discussed comprehensively herein. The potential uses of diode lasers in different spectroscopic fields and their extensive list of applications have also been included, which may be interesting for the novice and the advanced user as well.

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