In this Letter, we report the structural and luminescent properties of Tb:Ce:Al2O3 crystalline ceramic powders prepared through combustion synthesis at low temperature (similar to280 degreesC). The presence of Ce3+ (1.0 mol%) in the sample resulted in an enhancement of Tb3+ (1.0 mol%) overall emission intensity by a factor of similar to50. The analysis of the luminescence dynamics for the D-5(4) --> F-7(6) transition (similar to545 nm) of Tb3+ demonstrated that the mechanism responsible for the large enhancement of luminescence observed is efficient energy transfer from Ce3+ to Tb3+. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.