A study was made of the photoemission of electrons from oriented monocrystals of GaAs with special reference to the effect of additional infrared illumination. The retarding potential method was used in a spherical capacitor arrangement. The current‐voltage characteristics of n‐type material shift to the right upon additional illumination, while those of the p‐type material shift to the left. The shift is weaker for the p‐type samples, for which also the saturation current diminishes with illumination. These effects are explained by the change of the curvature of the energy bands near the surface with illumination.