Abstract
The luminescence of Tb3+‐activated CeF3, CePO4, CeBO3, and CeAlO3 has been investigated. Energy transfer from the Ce3+ host lattice to the Tb3+ ion occurs by Ce3+–Ce3+ and Ce3+–Tb3+ transfer. From a study of the Ce3+ luminescence in the analogous La compounds it can be concluded that the probability of the former transfer is different for these host lattices. An analogy with Eu3+‐activated host lattices is pointed out.