Rare earth (RE) ions implanted GaN films were studied by optical spectroscopy and RBS techniques. Sharp emission lines due to intra-4f n shell transitions can be observed even at room temperature for the Eu 3 + and Pr 3 + . The photoluminescence spectra recorded by the above band gap excitation reveal dominant transitions due to the 5 D 0 -> 7 F 1 , 2 , 3 lines at 6004, 6211 and 6632Å for the Eu 3 + and 3 P 0 , 1 -> 3 F 2 , 3 at 6450 and 6518Å, respectively, for the Pr 3 + . We report on the temperature dependence of the intra-ionic emissions as well as on the lattice site location of the RE detailed angular scans through the <0001> and <1011> axial directions; which indicates that for Pr, complete substitutionality on the Ga sites was achieved while for Eu a Ga displaced site was found.