Photoemission oscillations are observed from (001) GaAs, AlAs, AlGaAs, InAs, and AlSb. The periodicity of the oscillations corresponds to that of reflection high‐energy electron diffraction oscillations measured using the same growth conditions. For both methods, the oscillation amplitude is strongly dependent on the substrate temperature, III/V flux ratio, and the nature of the surface on which growth is nucleated for the oscillation measurement. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.