Correlation of electrical-resistivity anomalies and crystal structure in copper-germanium thin-film alloys

We report a nonmonotonic dependence of electrical resistivity on Ge concentration in Cu-Ge thin-film alloys containing 0-40 at.% Ge. This behavior is corrected with structural changes occurring in the alloys as the Ge concentration is increased. The resistivity is found to remain remarkably low (typically less than 10 μΩ cm) over a range of Ge concentration extending from 25 to 35 at.%.