Intrinsic and Strain-Dependent Properties of Suspended WSe₂ Crystallites toward Next-Generation Nanoelectronics and Quantum-Enabled Sensors

Two-dimensional (2D) layered materials exhibit great potential for high-performance electronics, where knowledge of their thermal and phononic properties is critical toward understanding heat dissipation mechanisms, considered to be a major bottleneck for current generation nanoelectronic, optoelectronic, and quantum-scale devices. In this work, noncontact Raman spectroscopy was used to analyze thermal properties of suspended 2D WSe2 membranes to access the intrinsic properties. Here, the influence of electron-phonon interactions within the parent crystalline WSe2 membranes was deciphered through a comparative analysis of extrinsic substrate-supported WSe2, where heat dissipation mechanisms are intimately tied to the underlying substrate. Moreover, the excitonic states in WSe2 were analyzed by using temperature-dependent photoluminescence spectroscopy, where an enhancement in intensity of the localized excitons in suspended WSe2 was evident. Finally, phononic and electronic properties in suspended WSe2 were examined through nanoscale local strain engineering, where a uniaxial force was induced on the membrane using a Au-coated cantilever within an atomic force microscope. Through the fundamental analysis provided here with temperature and strain-dependent phononic and optoelectronic properties in suspended WSe2 nanosheets, the findings will inform the design of next-generation energy-efficient, high-performance devices based on WSe2 and other 2D materials, including for quantum applications.