Eu doped nanocrystalline Y2O3 with different sizes were prepared by combustion synthesis. Dependences of particle size, crystal status and fluorescence characteristic on ratio of glycine/Y(NO3)(3) and annealing temperature were studied. It was observed that the peaks of charge transfer (CT) band do not shift with different size in low-doped concentration. With the increasing of concentration and annealing temperature, the peaks of CT band blue shift distinctly. It can be concluded that the CT band in cubic nanocrystalline Y2O3:Eu3+ has no direct connection with size, but depends on local structure, especially crystal status. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.