It was recently shown that Shubnikov–de Haas (SdH) oscillations observed in conventional resistance measurements can be dramatically enhanced by light-induced carrier modulation [S. E. Schacham, E. J. Haugland, and S. A. Alterovitz, Appl. Phys. Lett. 61, 551 (1992)]. Here we report on a similar observation in the case of contact-free, microwave-detected SdH oscillations. In the original version of this nondestructive technique [P. Omling, B. Meyer, and P. Emanuelsson, Appl. Phys. Lett. 58, 931 (1991)], magnetic-field modulation was applied in order to enhance the sensitivity. If, instead, the carrier concentration is modulated by illumination, we show that a similar enhancement in the sensitivity of the signal is obtained. We demonstrate that very simple microwave equipment can be used for the measurements, and that the accessible magnetic-field region can be extended, allowing for contact-free transport investigations in the high magnetic-field region.