A kind of ZnO:(La, Eu)Cl nanocomposite thin film phosphor with strong red emission was synthesized by the sol-gel process. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy characterization indicate that the films were composed of nano-sized grains and a LaOCl phase appeared accompanying with (100) oriented ZnO phase after annealed at 600 degrees C in oxygen. The photoluminescence properties were investigated by measuring the excitation and emission spectra. These luminescence results suggested that EU3+ ions could incorporate into the LaOCl lattice and charge transfer occurred between LaOCl phase and Eu3+ ions. La co-doping with Eu-Cl leads to the improvement of the red luminescence of Eu3+ and also suppressed the broad green emission of ZnO host. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.