In this study we have analyzed metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) effects from different density Silver-island films (SiFs) and the effects of sample geometry on the observed enhancement of fluorescence (EF). It is shown that silver islands grow exponentially with SiF deposition time (DT < 5 min), optical density of SiFs almost linearly depends on DT; electrical conductivity is zero. At DT > 5 min, silver islands merge, exhibiting a sharp increase in electrical conductivity. It has been shown that the newly proposed SiF sample geometry exhibits higher EF values than the commonly used in MEF studies SiF-SiF sample geometry. The SiF-glass geometry demonstrates high sensitivity for surface immunoassays, a growing application of metal-enhanced fluorescence. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.