Determination of the 8B neutrino spectrum

Phys Rev Lett. 2003 Dec 19;91(25):252501. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.252501. Epub 2003 Dec 18.

Abstract

We have measured the total energy of the alpha particles following the beta decay of 8B by implanting 8B into a planar silicon surface barrier detector. Calibration was performed using alpha particles following the beta decay of 20Na, similarly implanted. The alpha spectrum is used to infer the 8B neutrino spectrum which is an important input in the interpretation of experiments that detect energetic neutrinos from the Sun. The alpha spectrum reported here is in disagreement with the previous best measurement which used two detectors in coincidence.