A Comparison of the XRF11 and EXACT Fundamental Parameters Programs when Using Filtered Direct and Secondary Target Excitation in EDXRF

The XRF11 program by John Criss and the EXACT program are two commercially available fundamental parameters programs for energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF). These programs are both based on the same underlying equations but use different approaches to the calculations. The EXACT program assumes monochromatic excitation, and the XEF11 program models polychromatic excitation sources. There are also great differences in how the two programs approach the iterations in the calculations and in how the data from standards are used in the two programs for calibration. To produce the monochromatic excitation neeiled by the EXACT program, secondary targets have been the preferred method. But it is also possible to approximate monochromatic excitation by using filtered direct excitation. The purpose of this study is to compare the data obtained from both secondary targets and direct filtered excitation as processed through both XRF11 and EXACT.