Characteristics of the photoluminescence (PL) from disordered and ordered GaAs/Al0.3Ga0.7As superlattices are compared. The disordered superlattices (DSL) are nonperiodic and the ordered superlattices are periodic. The PL emission is much stronger in the DSLs by a factor that depends on the PL excitation wavelength and excitation power. These observations are interpreted in terms of an enhanced radiative decay rate in the DSLs brought about by the breakdown of translational symmetry in these systems. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.