Format: Isotope written with mass number as a left superscript (e.g., ¹⁰Be). Columns: Isotope | Z | A | Stable? | Half‑life | Decay mode(s) | Daughter | Radiation | Origin | Uses | Notes.
| Isotope | Z | A | Stable? | Half‑life | Decay mode(s) | Daughter | Radiation | Origin | Uses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ⁶Be | 4 | 6 | Unstable (unbound) | ≈ 5.0 zs | 2p emission | ⁴He | protons (2p) | Synthetic (accelerators) | Research (2p decay; few‑body dynamics) | Ground‑state unbound resonance. (Wikipedia) |
| ⁷Be | 4 | 7 | Unstable | 53.22 d | EC (K‑capture) | ⁷Li | X‑rays/Auger; γ 477.6 keV (branch) | Natural trace (cosmogenic) & Synthetic | Environmental tracer (atmospheric/sediment); solar‑neutrino chain studies | EC half‑life slightly environment‑dependent (<~1%). (TUNL Nuclear Data Project, ChemLin) |
| ⁸Be | 4 | 8 | Unstable (unbound) | ≈ 81.9 as | α → 2×⁴He | ⁴He + ⁴He | α | Synthetic (lab); astrophysical intermediate | Triple‑α bottleneck in stellar nucleosynthesis (research) | G.s. unbound by ≈92 keV; very short‑lived resonance. (Wikipedia) |
| ⁹Be | 4 | 9 | Stable | stable | — | — | — | Natural | Neutron reflector/moderator; X‑ray windows; detector/beamline hardware | Monoisotopic element (only stable isotope). (INIS, INL Digital Library, Materion, CIAAW) |
| ¹⁰Be | 4 | 10 | Unstable | 1.387 Myr | β⁻ | ¹⁰B | β⁻ | Natural trace (cosmogenic) & Synthetic | Cosmogenic nuclide: surface‑exposure dating; ice‑core/erosion studies | Long‑lived for light Be; key geoscience tracer. (Wikipedia) |
| ¹¹Be | 4 | 11 | Unstable | 13.76 s | β⁻ (≈96.7%); minor β⁻α, β⁻p | ¹¹B; ⁷Li+α; ¹⁰Be+p | β⁻; delayed α/p | Synthetic | Halo‑nucleus benchmark; β‑delayed particle studies | Canonical 1‑n halo; precise t½ compilations. (Wikipedia, TUNL Nuclear Data Project, OSTI) |
| ¹²Be | 4 | 12 | Unstable | 21.46 ms | β⁻ (≈99.5%); β⁻n (≈0.5%) | ¹²B; ¹¹B + n | β⁻; delayed n | Synthetic | Structure/halo‑evolution studies | Recommended t½ = 21.46 ± 0.05 ms. (TUNL Nuclear Data Project) |
| ¹³Be | 4 | 13 | Unstable (unbound) | ≈ 1.0 zs | n emission | ¹²Be | neutrons | Synthetic (accelerators) | Research (n‑unbound near dripline) | Width‑derived lifetime; very short‑lived. (Wikipedia) |
| ¹⁴Be | 4 | 14 | Unstable | 4.53 ms | β⁻n (≈86%); β⁻ (> ~9%); β⁻2n (≈5%) | ¹³B; ¹⁴B; ¹²B | β⁻; delayed n | Synthetic | Multi‑n emission studies; halo‑nucleus system | Branching per evaluated data. (KAERI Atom, Short Lab) |
| ¹⁵Be | 4 | 15 | Unstable (unbound) | ≈ 790 ys | n emission | ¹⁴Be | neutrons | Synthetic (accelerators) | Research (near‑threshold n emission) | Extremely short‑lived resonance. (Wikipedia) |
| ¹⁶Be | 4 | 16 | Unstable (unbound) | ≈ 650 ys | 2n emission (dineutron) | ¹⁴Be | neutrons (2n) | Synthetic (accelerators) | First g.s. dineutron decay case; three‑body correlations | Landmark dineutron emission observation (2012). (Wikipedia, Physical Review Links) |
Totals — Beryllium
- Stable1 (⁹Be)
- Unstable10 (⁶–⁸Be, ¹⁰–¹⁶Be)
- Total isotopes11
Running cumulative totals (up to Z = 4)
- Cumulative total isotopes36 (H: 7 • He: 8 • Li: 10 • Be: 11)
- Cumulative stable7 (H: 2 • He: 2 • Li: 2 • Be: 1)
- Cumulative unstable29
Sources
- Authoritative datasets: IAEA LiveChart of Nuclides (ENSDF backbone) and NNDC NuDat 3 (for wallet cards/decay & branches). (IAEA, National Nuclear Data Center)
- Isotope‑by‑isotope values for Be (half‑lives, modes, branches): “Isotopes of beryllium” table (6–16Be), including 6Be (5 zs), 8Be (81.9 as), 13Be (~1 zs), 15Be (790 ys), 16Be (650 ys) and detailed branches for 11–14Be. (Wikipedia)
- 7Be half‑life and EC decay: TUNL evaluated data; γ‑ray (477.6 keV) from ⁷Li*. (TUNL Nuclear Data Project)
- 10Be long half‑life & geoscience uses: summary with cosmogenic production and applications. (Wikipedia)
- 11Be and 12Be recommended half‑lives: TUNL ground‑state decay pages. (TUNL Nuclear Data Project)
- 14Be half‑life and β‑delayed‑n branches: KAERI database sheets. (KAERI Atom, Short Lab)
- 16Be ground‑state 2n (dineutron) emission: Phys. Rev. Lett. (2012) and follow‑up analyses. (Physical Review Links, OSTI)
- 9Be uses (moderator/reflector; X‑ray windows): nuclear‑applications review (INL/OSTI) and technical product documentation. (INIS, INL Digital Library, Materion)
- Monoisotopic status of Be (only ⁹Be stable): CIAAW atomic‑weight note. (CIAAW)
Next: Boron (Z = 5)
Key terms in plain language
Open a term for a concise explanation of language used on this page.
Colocation
Placing customer-owned servers and network equipment in a professionally operated data center that provides power, cooling, physical security, and connectivity.
Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A distributed system that serves website or application content from locations closer to users, improving speed, resilience, and capacity.
Cloud Computing
Computing resources—such as applications, servers, storage, or databases—delivered from remote infrastructure and scaled as requirements change.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Cloud-based servers, storage, and networking that customers configure and manage without owning the underlying data-center hardware.
Bandwidth
The amount of data a connection can carry in a given time, usually measured in Mbps or Gbps. More bandwidth supports more users, devices, and simultaneous applications.
Disaster Recovery (DRaaS)
A plan and service for restoring applications, data, and operations after an outage or disruption. DRaaS provides recovery infrastructure through a managed cloud service.