Lead fluoride chloride (PbFCl) crystals with different F/Cl ratio were grown by modified Bridgman method. The excess of PbCl2 is favorable to the crystallization of transparent ingot. X-ray powder diffraction analysis was used to identify the phases in PbFCl ingots. The transmittance spectra of the samples indicated that the presence of PbF2 or PbCl2 did not cause extra absorption bands in PbFCl crystals. F/Cl ratio strongly affected the number of emission bands and their peak positions in X-ray excited luminescence of PbFCl. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.