Correlation between excitation light source and the emission property of Sn 2þ -Ce 3þ co-doped zinc phosphate glasses is examined. Although photoluminescence (PL) peaks of both Sn 2þ and Ce 3þ shifted with increasing amount of Ce 3þ , there was little energy resonance between Sn 2þ and Ce 3þ emission centers. On the other hand, radioluminescence (RL) spectra excited by X-ray was independent of the Ce concentration, indicating that emission was mainly observed from Sn 2þ emission center. It is expected that energy relaxation process in a RL preferentially occurs in an ns 2 -type emission center that possesses high transition probability of the excited state in the higher energy region. V C 2013 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx.