The phosphor Y1.98O3: Eu0.013+, Dy0.013+ was prepared by high temperature solid reaction method. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscope (SEM), photoluminescence spectra (PL), and single-photon counter system were used to investigate the structure, morphology, luminescent properties, and decay characteristics of the phosphor Y1.98O3: Eu0.013+, Dy0.013+ which was synthesized with different contents of H3BO3. Results show that the structure of the H3BO3-contained phosphors can keep Y2O3 matrix when the content of H3BO3 is below 8%(mol), and the particles size of phosphors increases during the addition of H3BO3. The luminescence of phosphors come from the transition of 5D0→7FJ of Eu3+, the main emission peaks at 612 nm and the intensity is increased linearly with the increase of H3BO3 content. Phosphors show better afterglow characteristics during the increase of H3BO3.The measurement of thermoluminescence(TL) reveals that the addition of H3BO3 increases the trap depth and trap concentration in the host, hence the afterglow characteristics become better.