Fig. 1.

Three-dimensional (3D)-AFM images of 2D materials and mica–water interfaces. a Epitaxial graphene grown on SiC. b Few-layer MoS₂. c Few-layer WSe₂. d Mica. The images show the changes of the phase shift as function of the xyz position. There is an alternation of dark and light stripes. The oscillations are related to changes in the solvent density. Those changes give rise to a layered structure with a few-angstroms features. The interfacial structure is deeper on the 2D materials (hydrophobic surfaces) than on mica (hydrophilic). At the bottom of the 3D images we have plotted the lattice resolution images of the different surfaces (Supplementary Fig. 1)