This paper indicates both experimentally and graphically how the distribution of carriers changes above a critical temperature T
c, which is related to the density of states ρ in the band tails. Thus,

, where

). The emission spectrum shifts with changing excitation (band filling) at lower temperatures (

) and stays at a constant value independent of excitation at higher temperatures (

). Experimental results of photoluminescence studies with GaAs crystals show that the quantity E
0, obtained from the dependence of the peak energy upon the degree of excitation is the same as the quantity

, obtained from the dependence of the peak energy upon temperature. This is in agreements with the analysis. For lasing diodes, the threshold will increase steeply with increasing temperature above T
c, if the excited carriers are located mostly in the exponential states of the band tail.

meV and T
c= (

K) are typical for crystals of heavily compensated GaAs.