A series of single-doped and multidoped Ca 8 MgGd(PO 4 ) 7 :Ln 3þ , Mn 2þ (Ln 3þ ¼ Ce 3þ , Tb 3þ , and Dy 3þ ) phosphors were synthesized by solid-state reaction, and their photoluminescence properties under vacuum ultraviolet excitation were evaluated. From the emission spectra excited at 147 nm, it can be found that the emission peak position of Ca 8 MgGd(PO 4 ) 7 :Ce 3þ demonstrates a redshift with the increasing Ce 3þ concentration. The Ce 3þ -Tb 3þ -Mn 2þ triactivated and Ce 3þ -Dy 3þ coactivated Ca 8 MgGd(PO 4 ) 7 were successfully tuned to give white emission upon 147 nm excitation with the CIE chromaticity coordinates (0.329, 0.346) and (0.325, 0.331), respectively. Accordingly, it is a feasible approach to achieve white-emitting phosphors for Hg-free lamps by multidoping in Ca 8 MgGd(PO 4 ) 7 matrix.Nowadays, rare earth (RE) doped phosphors have attracted much attention due to their efficient luminescence under ultraviolet (UV) and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) excitation. One of their important applications is in lighting field, for instance, the mercury lamps that use the electric discharge of Hg as excitation source have been commonly used in the past years. But as we know, mercury is harmful, and it will pollute the environment when the lamps become broken or expired. 1 Based on this point, Hg-free lamps are proposed and have been paid more and more attention at present. The Hg-free lamps are excited by VUV photons, especially the light of 147 and 172 nm generated by the discharge of Xe and Xe 2 , respectively. Therefore, it is imperative to explore new phosphors with a strong and broad absorption in VUV region.Usually, the white light is obtained by the blend of red, green, and blue-emitting phosphors, and it could exhibit an excellent color rendering. However, this method leads to decrease luminous efficiency due to reabsorption of emission colors and to increase manufacturing cost. Recent studies have found that it is probable to generate white light by doping one or more than one activator in one matrix. For instance, Dy 3þ is widely used as a potential activator for white-emitting phosphors due to its yellow ( 4 F 9/2 -6 H 13/2 ) and blue ( 4 F 9/2 -6 H 15/2 ) emissions, 2 but the intensity ratio of the two emissions (Y/B) is strongly influenced by the outside environment of Dy 3þ , which will further affect the emission color of Dy 3þ ; Eu 3þ in some hosts could also exhibit white emission due to an appropriate intensity ratio of 5 D 3,2,1 -7 F J to 5 D 0 -7 F J emissions 3 ; in addition, activator ions multidoped phosphors are also reported for use in both white light-emitting diodes and upconversion luminescent materials. 4-6 Based on these, in this article, we synthesized white-emitting phosphors under VUV excitation by Ce 3þ , Tb 3þ , Mn 2þ tridoping and Ce 3þ , Dy 3þ codoping in the Ca 8 MgGd(PO 4 ) 7 (CMGP) matrix. Although identifying a single material system to produce the red-green-blue emissions would greatly simplify the fabrication process, only few examples of systems incorporating Ln e...