This paper reports the photoluminescence (PL) spectra of Mn-doped zinc sulfide (ZnS) phosphor powders, which are prepared by conventional solid state method. In this work, we investigate the dependence of the PL spectra on the sintering temperature and Mn concentration, respectively. The experimental results showed that the maximum PL spectra intensity is observed for samples of Mn (C-Mn) = 3% sintered at 1100degreesC and then decreased with further doping. The material characteristics were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectrometer. The structure transformations were found from the cubic structure into hexagonal as the sintering temperature is above 900degreesC. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.