The luminescence of sol-gel derived Zn2SiO4 Powder sample doped with Bi3+ ions has been presented in this paper. From the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the doped sample, it can be concluded that Bi3+-doped Zn2SiO4 powder is an interesting PL material whose luminescence properties are adjusted by changing the excitation wavelength. The luminescence of Bi3+ ions is quite diverse in Zn2SiO4 powder sample. The blue and yellow emission bands have been observed from the doped Zn2SiO4 powder. This novel luminescence property is attributed to an energy transfer involving Bi3+, Zn2+, and Si4+ ligand of Zn2SiO4 lattice. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.