Strained InAs0.43P0.57/InP and strain-compensated InAs0.43P0.57/In0.7Ga0.3As0.43P0.57 multiple quantum well (MQW) structures were grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy. The observations of up to 5 satellite-diffraction peaks from the high-resolution X-ray diffraction measurements demonstrate good crystalline quality for both structures. The temperature dependence of the 1e-1hh transition energies, the line width of photoluminescence (PL) spectra and emission efficiency eta of the two quantum well structures are compared by low-temperature PL measurements. The temperature dependence of the 1e-1hh transitions of the two quantum well structures is similar to that of InAs0.43P0.57 bulk material. The thermal activation energies obtained for strain-compensated MQW are larger than those obtained for the strained one. Consequently, the PL emission efficiency decays much slower for the strain-compensated MQW than that for the strained one when temperature increases, indicating the superior temperature stability of luminescent efficiency for the strain-compensated MQW. The obtained results can be used as references to the design and fabrication of optoelectronic devices. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.