Gold nanowires array with diameter from 90 to 110 nm was prepared on AAO template by laser molecular beam epitaxy (LMBE), and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectrum of probe molecules nicotinic acid (NA) were recorded on the gold nanowires array. The Raman and SERS spectrum of NA using DFT-B3PW91 with lanl2dz based on two models were calculated, and compared with the experimental results. It was found the calculated frequencies were in good agreement with experimental values, which indicates that there are two enhanced mechanism which electromagnetic enhancement and charge transfer enhancement, on the gold nanowires array regarding SERS effect. (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.