How would the spectrometer signal change if the target molecule was well dispersed in a solution and placed on the fiber optic SPR cable VS the target molecule concentrated at a specific region on the fiber optic cable?
The effect can be very strong. If the concentration change is e.g. aggregation, then not only shielding effect blocks light from reaching molecules inside an aggregate, but also spectra might be changed by interactions between the molecules in the aggregate. In some cases, addition of 0.1% of a solvent which prevents aggregation transforms a clear (for eyes) solution into a deeply colored one, even when no precipitation was seen in the original suspension.