The first experimental and theoretical investigation of the difference in t
he temperature behavior of the linear expansion coefficients of single crys
tals grown from isotopically highly enriched and natural germanium is repor
ted. A comparison of the data for Ge-70 and Ge-nat crystals reveals the sig
nificant influence of isotopic composition over a wide range of temperature
s 30-230 K. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-7761(99)02101-0]
.