Single crystals of undoped and cerium‐doped yttrium aluminum garnet have been pumped with laser radiation of 220‐ and 266‐nm wavelength. A broadband defect emission at approximately 300 nm was observed, similar to that obtained with cathodoluminescence, although decreased in magnitude. Evidence of a transfer of energy from these defect states to the Ce+3states was inferred from the photoluminescence decay time measurements. We have associated the absorption spectra from 200–300 nm with the defect excitation spectrum, including the peaks at 225 and 270 nm.