Surface plasmon polariton is a surface oscillation wave that is bound at the interface between metal and dielectric material. Its oscillating electric field is strongly bound below the subwavelength scale near the interface, generating a huge enhancement of localized electromagnetic field, which can be used to greatly enhance the interaction between light and matter, particularly in metal surface plasmon coupling system. In this paper, we review the coupling effects, coupling theory, and typical coupling structures of the surface plasmon coupling systems. We also introduce a typical surface plasmon coupling system and its corresponding crucial applications in surface enhanced refractive index sensor, Raman scattering, near-infrared absorption, and nonlinear effect generation.