Isotopes of boron

There are 13 radioisotopes that have been discovered, with mass numbers from 7 to 21, all with short half-lives, the longest being that of 8B, with a half-life of only 771.9(9) ms and 12B with a half-life of 20.20(2) ms. All other isotopes have half-lives shorter than 17.35 ms. Those isotopes with mass below 10 decay into helium (via short-lived isotopes of beryllium for 7B and 9B) while those with mass above 11 mostly become carbon.

Boron-8 is an isotope of boron that undergoes β+ decay to beryllium-8 with a half-life of 771.9(9) ms.

[7] Although neutrinos from boron-8 beta decays within the Sun make up only about 80 ppm of the total solar neutrino flux, they have a higher energy centered around 10 MeV,[8] and are an important background to dark matter direct detection experiments.

[9] They are the first component of the neutrino floor that dark matter direct detection experiments are expected to eventually encounter.

Boron-10 is used in boron neutron capture therapy as an experimental treatment of some brain cancers.