It is interesting to investigate the rare-earth (RE) ion activated ZnS phosphor because ZnS:Cu

+

ZnS:Ag

+

and ZnS:Mn

2+

phosphors have high luminescence efficiency. Luminescence of ZnS:RE

3+

has been well Studied by Some authors in various laborateries

[1

2

3]

but Eu

2+

activated ZnS phosphor was seldom reported .In the investigation of RE activated ZnS material systems

we pay attention to the luminescence properties of the System which is activated by Eu

2+

ions having f-d transition. We studied the preparation and fluorescence properties of ZnS:Eu

2+

phosphor systematically.The preparation procedure of ZnS:Eu

2+

was as follows. The dried mixture of ZnS with Eu(NO

3

)

3

was put in a muff with two fused silica tubes. Sulfur and active cabon were placed in the gap between the two tubes. The mixture was fired in a furnace at the temperature of 1150-1200℃ for 1 hr .The concentration of Eu

2+

in ZnS for all of the samples was about 0.07 a%.Spectral properties were discussed in detail and interesting afterglow was found for the first time. The emission spectra consist of a main band of 550 nm and a weak band of 650nm corresponding to 380nm and 338nm excitation bands

respectively. Thermoluminescence

the dependence of emission spectra on temperature and the effect of temperature on the decay time were observed. According to the results two kinds of associated europium center were presumed. The dependence of emission spectra of the phosphor on Cd

2+

was also measured. It is considered that the short fluorescence lifetime is related to the electron traps in the band gap of ZnS. In addition

cathodoluminescence charatceris-tics were investigated too. It was found that ZnS:Eu

2+

showed a long afterglow up to 50 ms

and its brightness dependence on applied voltage was better than standard P-1 Zn

2

SiO

4

:Mn phosphor. Therefore the phosphor ZnS:Eu

2+

may be useful for industry in the future.