  The five-layer nanorod-mediated surface plasmon sensor with inhomogeneous
liquid crystal layer was theoretically investigated. The reflectance as the
function of the incident angle was calculated at different voltages applied to
the liquid crystal (LC) for different analyte refractive indices. By changing
the LC director orientation one can control the position of the reflective dips
and choose the one that is the most sensitive to the analyte refractive index.
At the chosen angle of incidence, the analyte refractive index can be found
from the reflectance value. The director reorientation effect is stronger when
the prism refractive index is between ordinary and extraordinary refractive
indices of the LC. In this case, the voltage increase and the prism refractive
index decrease have a similar effect on the reflectance features.
