Spindle shaped tetragonal La-2(MoO4)(3): Eu3+ phosphors were synthesized by a polyol mediated solvothermal synthesis method. Growth mechanism for the formation of spindles was explained by increasing the reaction temperature. Similarly, the effect of EDTA concentration and calcination temperature on the morphology of particles was studied. Structural properties of the samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction patterns and Fourier transform infrared spectra. The emission richness in the red region was investigated by measuring both photoluminescence (PL) and cathadoluminescence (CL) emission spectra. The excitation spectra of the samples at different calcination temperatures exhibited intense excitation bands at different wavelengths in the ultraviolet (UV)-A, UV-B, UV-C and visible regions. This property makes the sample to be a promising red region component in UV or visible excitation based white light-emitting diodes. The lifetime variation as a function of calcination temperature was observed. The CL spectra exhibited similar behaviors as the PL spectra except the considerable emission intensities in lower wavelength region. The CIE coordinates obtained from the PL and CL spectra provided a good chromaticity in the red region. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.