Strain Dilution in Thermoelastic Damping in Two-Dimensional MoS ₂ Resonators

Two-dimensional (2D) nanoelectromechanical systems combine ultralow areal mass with high in-plane stiffness, enabling sensitive sensing and signal processing, yet the readout is constrained by dissipation and weak motional currents. Here, we develop a strain-diluted thermoelastic damping (TED) model and validate it using bi-, tri-, and multilayer doubly clamped MoS₂ resonators measured via radio frequency (RF) down-mixing. At room temperature, gate-induced tensile strain dilutes TED and raises the quality factor (<i>Q</i>) from 55 to 3211 (∼58×) while simultaneously amplifying the motion-induced current. To quantify temperature cross-sensitivity, we perform a 270-380 K sweep and find a near-linear frequency-temperature slope of -0.179 ± 0.001 MHz K^-1. A finer 290-295 K scan yields a ∼23% steeper slope, underscoring the need for precise thermal control. These results provide design rules linking strain engineering with RF down-mixing for a high-signal-to-noise-ratio, all-electrical readout in 2D resonators.