Absolute cross section of 7Be(p, γ)8B

The absolute cross section a (E) for the radiative capture reaction Be-7(p, gamma)B-8 at the center-of-mass energies E = 0.32 to 2.61 MeV has been measured using a Be-7 target deposited on a Cu backing and observing the beta -delayed alpha -particles from B-8. The backing causes a loss of less than 1% of the B-8 residual nuclides. The resulting astrophysical S(E) factor at zero energy, S(0) = 18.4 +/- 1.6 eV b, is consistent only with a restricted data set from previous work. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.