Abstract A novel green phosphor Y 3 Ga 5 O 12 :Tb (YGG) was successfully synthesized by Pechini method. The differential scanning calorimetric (TG-DSC) analysis and X-ray powder diffraction were used to determine the crystallization temperature and the pure phase phosphors were obtained by calcining the gel at 800 °C. The morphology of the powders was characterized by scan electronic microscope (SEM). The excitation and emission spectra of photoluminescence were used to characterize the luminescent properties. The excitation spectrum is dominated by the 4f–4f5d transition of Tb 3+ at 263 nm. The strong emission peaks for the highly doped phosphors are 489 and 543 nm. YGG can be used as a kind of promising host for luminescent materials.