Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) excitation and emission properties of Tb 3+ ion doped silico-aluminate phosphor Ca 1.5 Y 1.5 Al 3.5 Si 1.5 O 12 :Tb 3+ was studied. Upon excitation with vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and near UV light excitation, the phosphor showed strong green-emission peaked at 545nm corresponding to the 5 D 4 → 7 F 5 transition of Tb 3+ , and the highest PL intensity at 545nm was found at a content of about 14mol% Tb 3+ . The 4f–5d transition absorption of Tb 3+ is in the range from 150nm to 260nm, and there is an energy transfer from the host to the rare earth ions. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) images showed the particle size of the phosphor was less than 3μm.