Plasmon enhanced fluorescence of heavy-metal-free Cu-In-Zn-S quantum dots was explored. Cu-In-Zn-S were chemically synthesized with different sizes via variation of the growth time of the Cu-In-S while plasmonic silver films (PSFs) were also fabricated through physical deposition. The QD/PSF coupling structure gives significant rise to fluorescence intensity and stability of the QDs. As high as 45 folds enhancement in emission intensity and 41.23% decrease in fluorescence lifetimes are observed. The metal-enhanced fluorescence offers promise for a range of applications, including LEDs, sensor technology, microarrays and single-molecule studies. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.