Y-doped ZnO (Zn1-xYxO) nanoparticles with different Y concentrations were synthesized by sol-gel method. The effects of Y concentration on the optical properties of the as-synthesized Zn1-xYxO nanoparticles were investigated. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements revealed that doping of Y in ZnO induced an evidence increase of UV emission. At Y concentration x = 0.07, the UV emission intensity reached maximum, which is about 9 times higher than that of the compared pure ZnO nanoparticles. Exceeding this concentration, the formation of Y2O3 causes a decrease in the UV emission intensity. This enhanced UV emission enables Zn1-xYxO system potential applications in supersensitive UV detector sinimaging, photosensing, and intrachip optical interconnects. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.