The intent of this paper is to report the preparation of porous copper by using spark discharge in ambient air and its luminescence properties. The photoluminescence characteristics of spark-processed copper have been studied at various temperatures. Properties of spark-processed copper were further studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR). In addition to the luminescence peaks of 435 run (2.85 eV) and 533 nm (2.39 eV), which are also observed from sintered CuO, the photoluminescence studies of spark-processed copper revealed a sharp emission band in the UV (3.3 eV). This novel UV luminescence band is further separated into three peaks centered at 3.38, 3.33, and 3.25 eV below 100 K. FT-IR studies of spark-processed Cu mainly demonstrated characteristic vibration modes stemming from CuO. Further, a formation of CuO is evidenced by the XRD studies of spark-processed Cu. The luminescence properties of spark-processed Cu are discussed based on the experimental results. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.