The strongly luminescent neutral gold(I) triphosphine complexes [Au(dipnc)(PPh(3))] and [Au(dppnc)(PPh(3))] with dipnc = 7,8-bis(diisopropylphosphino)-nido-carborane ([(PiPr(2))(2)B(9)H(10)C(2))](-)) and dppnc = 7,8-bis(diphenylphosphino)-nido-carborane ([(PPh(2))(2)B(9)H(10)C(2)](-)) are studied in a wide range of temperatures of 1.5 <or= T <or= 300 K. Analysis of the emission decay dynamics provides detailed information about the lowest triplet state. In particular, the magnitude of zero-field splitting of the emitting state is determined to be 47 and 29 cm(-1) for [Au(dipnc)(PPh(3))] and [Au(dppnc)(PPh(3))], respectively. The emission decay times of the individual triplet substates lie in the range of 4 to 130 mus. The observed photophysical properties suggest that the molecular orbitals involved in the lowest electronic transitions exhibit, beside gold orbitals, considerable contributions from nonmetallic ligand orbitals. OLED or sensor application of these complexes is suggested.