Attenuation of longitudinal and transverse optical phonons in d-wave superc
onductors due to the electron-phonon interaction is calculated by employing
the Kubo method. The electron-phonon interaction is considered in the fram
e of reference moving together with the lattice that allows us to exclude f
rom consideration the inelastic electron-impurity scattering. The attenuati
on coefficient is calculated in the unitary limit and in the Born approxima
tion for the electron-impurity scattering. It is found that the value and t
emperature dependence of the attenuation coefficient are strongly dependent
on the value of the electron-impurity potential which can explain the obse
rved sensitivity of experimental data to the sample quality. (C) 1999 Elsev
ier Science B.V. All rights reserved.