The temperature-dependence of emission intensity of the Eu

3+

-ion in several silicate glasses was investigated from 77K to 670K

by the excitation of a non-resonant 488nm laser. It was observed that the total emission intensity of the Eu

3+

-ion in some glasses had a maximum at a certain temperature below 670K

while in the other glasses the intensity increased monotonically with temperature. A unified theore tical model was given considering thermal activation

phonon assisted absorption and nonradiative energy transfer processes. Based on the model

all of the experimental data were well fitted. The temperature quenching channels were discussed

while the temperature quenching rates were determined. As known

persistent spectral hole burning (PSHB) has potential application as the media of high density optical information storage. Recently

PSHB phenomenon at room-temperature has been observed in Eu

3+

-doped as well as Sm

2+

-doped glasses. For this sake

Eu

3+

-ion doped in glass hosts is attracting current interests. In this paper

we study on the temperature-dependent characteristic of the emission of the Eu

3+

-ion under the pump of a 488nm light. The understanding of temperature-dependent luminescent process is helpful to search for new materials for optical storage at high temperature and phosphors with high quantum efficiency. In our study

the variation of the emission intensity of Eu

3+

can be mainly attributed to two factors

the thermally excited emission from

7

F

2

to

5

D

2

and the temperature quenching effect. The former tends to cause the emission intensity of Eu

3+

increase with temperature

while the later tends to cause the intensity decrease. The temperature-quenching effect is comparable with the thermal excited emission of

7

F

2

→

5

D

2

when the glass is elevated to one certain temperature

thus a maximum of emission intensity occurs. In all the glasses

the phonon assisted transition rates from

7

F

0

to

5

D

1

and

5

D

2

and from

7

F

1

to

5

D

1

and

5

D

2

are much smaller than the resonant transition rate of

7

F

2

→

5

D

2

.