Experimental data regarding the temperature dependence of compact disc lasers are presented. The authors demonstrate, for the first time, a temperature-dependent model which has been adapted from a well established compact disc laser model. By comparing the experimental trends and calculation, they attempt to highlight the role of certain phenomena such as nonradiative recombination and charge carrier diffusion on the device behaviour. From these results they come to a number of important conclusions regarding the origin of self-pulsation in these types of laser diodes.