The effect of eight preparation control factors, i.e., atmosphere, sintering temperature, sintering time, CeO2, Al2O3, SiO2, CaCO3, and H3BO3 ratios, of Ca2Al2SiO7:Ce on mechanoluminescence (ML) intensity has been investigated by the design of experiments and the analysis of variance in order to increase the ML intensity. Consequently, it is proved statistically that the CaCO3, SiO2 ratios, and the sintering temperature are significant control factors for the ML intensity. The CaCO3 ratio is the most important control factor. On the other hand, the atmosphere, sintering time, CeO2, Al2O3, and H3BO3 ratios are not statistically significant control factors, and the effect of these factors are on an error level. Moreover, a detailed investigation of the dependence of the ML intensity on the three important control factors was carried out to optimize the preparation conditions of Ca2Al2SiO7:Ce. The optimum conditions were that the CaCO3 ratio was 25 mol %, the SiO2 ratio was 25 mol %, and the sintering temperature was 1450degreesC. The ML intensity of Ca2Al2SiO7:Ce was increased twenty times by optimizing the preparation conditions. (C) 2003 The Electrochemical Society.