Fig. 1: SCM experiment on vdW layered material.

a Left panel: schematic showing the experimental setup. The sample preparation consists of mechanical exfoliation (of layered materials), electron-beam lithography and metal-contact evaporation (~60 nm Au/Cr) processes. During the measurements, the sample is powered by a 1 V 90 kHz ac bias and a conductive probe (kept virtual ground) was used to retract the localized differential capacitance signal while scanning over the device area. Right panel: evolution of the background doping characteristic of MoS2 with an increasing thickness. b AFM and SCM images of a stair-like MoS2 flake, including 1L, 3L and 5L segments. The profiles are derived along the white dashed line. All the SCM experiments were performed in nitrogen environment