Electronic Attenuation of Longitudinal Acoustic Phonons in Tungsten

The conduction-electron-limited mean free path of long-wavelength longitudinal phonons in tungsten is calculated on the basis of an empirical deformation-potential description of the electron-phonon interaction. Good agreement with acoustic attenuation data of Jones and Rayne demonstrates the importance of the inclusion of renormalization effects when the deformation potential is constructed from the strain response of the Fermi surface. Lifetime broadening of the phonon spectrum is discussed.