Merits of atomic fluorescence spectrometry technique:

The merit of the AFS methods lies within the greater sensitivity achievable because of low background and interference.  It exhibits its greatest sensitivity for elements having higher excitation energies and offers benefits for a few metals and metalloids such as Pb, Cd, Tl, Hg, As, Sb, Se, Te, etc.

The linear calibration curves frequent extend 4 to 7 orders of magnitude and samples within solid, liquid and gaseous state could be analysed, while most samples are converted to liquids before analysis. While combined along with techniques such as chromatography, a method could give information about the chemical form of the analyte.

Within AFS the sample preparation, particularly for solids, is frequent time-consuming step and the method has related chemical and spectral interferences. In addition, the technique is limited to determination of metals and metalloids and in most analytical determinations it does not offer distinct benefits over the established methods such as AAS and AES.