B -meson production at forward and backward rapidity in p+p and Cu + Au collisions at sNN =200 GeV

The fraction of J/ψ mesons which come from B-meson decay, FB→J/ψ, is measured for J/ψ rapidity 1.2<|y|<2.2 and pT>0 in p+p and Cu+Au collisions at sNN = 200 GeV with the PHENIX detector. The extracted fraction is FB→J/ψ=0.025±0.006 (stat) ± 0.010(syst) for p+p collisions. For Cu+Au collisions, FB→J/ψ is 0.094 ± 0.028(stat) ± 0.037(syst) in the Au-going direction (-2.2<y<-1.2) and 0.089 ± 0.026(stat) ± 0.040(syst) in the Cu-going direction (1.2<y<2.2). The nuclear modification factor, RCuAu, of B mesons in Cu+Au collisions is consistent with binary scaling of measured yields in p+p at both forward and backward rapidity.