The luminescence of sol-gel derived Zn 2 SiO 4 powder sample doped with Bi 3 + ions has been presented in this paper. From the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the doped sample, it can be concluded that Bi 3 + -doped Zn 2 SiO 4 powder is an interesting PL material whose luminescence properties are adjusted by changing the excitation wavelength. The luminescence of Bi 3 + ions is quite diverse in Zn 2 SiO 4 powder sample. The blue and yellow emission bands have been observed from the doped Zn 2 SiO 4 powder. This novel luminescence property is attributed to an energy transfer involving Bi 3 + , Zn 2 + , and Si 4 + ligand of Zn 2 SiO 4 lattice.