Plasmon-enhanced photoluminescence has wide application potential in many areas, whereas the underlying mechanism is still in debate. We report the photoluminescence enhancement in SiC nanocrystal-Ag nanoparticle coupled system spaced by the poly(styrene sulfonic acid) sodium salt/poly(allylamine hydrochloride) polyelectrolyte bilayers. The integrated luminescence intensity can be improved by up to 17 times. Our analysis indicates that the strong coupling between the SiC nanocrystals and the surface plasmon oscillation of the silver nanoparticles is the major cause of the luminescence enhancement. These findings will help to understand the photoluminescence enhancement mechanism as well as widen the applications of the SiC nanocrystals in photonics and life sciences. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.