Strontium phosphate glasses with various concentrations of Nd 2 O 3 have been prepared by melt quenching method. Absorption and photoluminescence spectra and lifetime measurements have been carried out to obtain the optical properties of these glasses. From the absorption spectrum, intensity and radiative parameters have been evaluated using Judd-Ofelt analysis. Nearinfrared photoluminescence spectra consist of three bands centered at 875 nm, 1056 nm and 1327 nm, among which the highest intensity has been noticed for the band at 1056 nm that corresponds to the 4 F 3/2 fi 4 F 11/2 transition of Nd 3+ ion. Laser parameters such as branching ratio, band width, stimulated emission cross section and gain bandwidth for the 4 F 3/2 fi 4 F 11/2 transition are found to be 0.52, 28 nm, 2.31 9 10 À20 cm 2 and 6.5 9 10 À26 cm 3 , respectively. Decay curves of the 4 F 3/2 level of Nd 3+ ions exhibit a single exponential nature at lower concentrations, while they become non-exponential at higher concentrations (‡ 0.1 mol.%) due to non-radiative energy transfer processes. This feature is also associated with shortening of lifetime from 307 ls to 82 ls when the Nd 3+ ion concentration increases from 0.1 mol.% to 4.0 mol.%. The results have been compared with those of barium and magnesium phosphate glasses and commercial glasses. The results suggest that these glasses have potential applications as infrared laser materials at 1.05 lm.