We present a technique to study depth profiles of molecular orientation in soft matter thin films with nanometer resolution. The method is based on dichroism in resonant soft X-ray reflectivity using linear s- and p-polarization. It combines the chemical sensitivity of Near-Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure spectroscopy to specific molecular bonds and their orientation relative to the polarization of the incident beam with the precise depth profiling capability of X-ray reflectivity. We demonstrate these capabilities on side chain liquid crystalline polymer thin films with soft X-ray reflectivity data at the carbon K edge. Optical constants of the anisotropic refractive index ellipsoid were obtained from a quantitative analysis using the Berreman formalism. For films up to 50 nm thickness we find that the degree of orientation of the long axis exhibits no depth variation and is independent of the film thickness.

On the surface of water ice, a quasi-liquid layer (QLL) has been extensively reported at temperatures below its bulk melting point at 273 K. Approaching the bulk melting temperature from below, the thickness of the QLL is known to increase. To elucidate the precise temperature variation of the QLL, and its nature, we investigate the surface melting of hexagonal ice by combining noncontact, surface-specific vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy and spectra calculated from molecular dynamics simulations. Using SFG, we probe the outermost water layers of distinct single crystalline ice faces at different temperatures. For the basal face, a stepwise, sudden weakening of the hydrogen-bonded structure of the outermost water layers occurs at 257 K. The spectral calculations from the molecular dynamics simulations reproduce the experimental findings; this allows us to interpret our experimental findings in terms of a stepwise change from one to two molten bilayers at the transition temperature.