A substrate for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been developed. Based oil the surface-catalyzed reduction of Ag+ by citrate on the silver nanoparticles surface Under light irradiation, small silver seeds on a quartz slide call be enlarged. The optical properties and characteristics of the silver films have been investigated by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, scan electron microscope and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results indicate that the particle size and shape are different at different reduction time. At the first 3 h, some triangular and hexagonal nanoparticles formed; with the reduction proceeding, the shape of the silver particles became irregular and the size became larger. The silver films obtained are very suitable as SERS active substrate. The relationship between SERS intensity and the reduction time has been investigated for 1,4-bis[2-(4-pyridyl)ethenyl]-benzene molecule adsorbed on the silver film. The SERS intensity reached a maximum at 8 h reduction. The AFM measurements indicate that toughness features with all average size of 100 nm are present on the surface, which yielded the strongest SERS signal. Pyridine was used as a probe molecule to investigate the enhancement factor (EF) of the silver films. According to the formalism of Tian and coworkers, the EF of the silver films is estimated to be 3.4 x 10(5). The silver film that call remain active for more than 50 days Would seem to be suitable for various analytical applications. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.