Used in the measurement of trace amounts of volatile heavy metals such as mercury, cold vapour AFS makes use of the unique characteristic of mercury that allows vapour measurement at room temperature.  Free mercury atoms in a carrier gas are excited by a collimated ultraviolet light source at a wavelength of 253.7 nanometres.  The excited atoms re-radiate their absorbed energy (fluoresce) at this same wavelength.  Unlike the directional excitation source, the fluorescence is omnidirectional and may thus be detected using a photomultiplier tube or UV photodiode.
Gold coated traps may be used to collect mercury in ambient air or other media.  The traps are then heated, releasing the mercury from the gold while passing argon through the cartridge.  This preconcentrates the mercury, increasing sensitivity, and also transfers the mercury into an inert gas.