A simple method of the fabrication of silver nanoparticles/single-walled carbon nanotubes (Ag/SWNTs) composite for surface-enhanced Raman scattering was presented. The morphology of Ag/SWNTs composite was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The performance of the Ag/SWNTs composite as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active substrate was evaluated via using 4-aminothiophenol (PATP) as the probe molecule. Compared with PATP on AgNPs film, the SERS signal of PATP was obviously improved on the Ag/SWNTs composite. Then, by examining the relative enhancement of the nontotally symmetric (b(2)) modes of PATP, this effect was shown to arise from a charge-transfer contribution between molecule and metal. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.