Recently

borophosphate has attracted much attention during the continuous searching for new functional materials. We report the synthesis process

structural and spectroscopic properties of Ce

3+

doped alkali-earth borophosphate.

M

BPO

5

(

M

=Ca

Sr

Ba) were prepared by solid-state reactions and Ce

3+

ions were successfully doped into the samples in a reduction atmosphere. The structural properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). XRD patterns exhibit that the samples crystallize in stillwellite structure. FT-IR spectra show the absorption bands of BO 4 and PO 4 groups

indicating that B and P atoms were linked with O atoms in regular tetrahedron form. The excitation spectra in the vacuum ultraviolet-ultraviolet region of the samples were recorded. The emission spectra feature typical 5d4f transition of Ce

3+

. The effects of radius of alkali earth ions on the excitation spectra and emission spectra were discussed. The lifetime of Ce

3+

emission in BaBPO

5

is measured to be about 25ns

which meet the demand of scintillator for the short lifetime. Our results show that Ce

3+

doped

M

BPO

5

(

M

=Ca

Sr

Ba) may find potential applications in scintillator materials.