Motivated by the need for new red phosphors for solid-state lighting applications Eu3+-doped MgMoO4 was prepared by solid-state reaction and its excitation and emission spectra were measured at room temperature. In addition, the effects of firing temperature and Eu3+ doping concentration on the PL intensities were also investigated. Compared with Y2O2S:0.05Eu(3+), the obtained Mg0.80MoO4:Eu-0.20(3+) phosphor shows a stronger excitation band near 400 nm and intensely red-emission lines at 616 nm correspond to the forced electric dipole D-5(0) -> F-7(2) transitions on Eu3+ under 394 nm light excitation. The CIE chromaticity coordinates (x = 0.651, y = 0.348) of Mg0.80MoO4:Eu-0.20(3+) close to the NTSC (National Television Standard Committee) standard values, and therefore may find application on near UV InGaN chip-based white light emitting diodes. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.