In liquid acidic ammonia, the mechanism of oxygen reduction begins as in acidic aqueous solutions, by the successive contribution of the conduction band and then of the valence band (doubling effect). However, unlike in the acidic aqueous solutions, soon after the oxygen photoreduction, an activation process of the p-GaAs surface is initiated, tied to the presence of protons in the solution. This activation of the surface allows the passage from a reduction mechanism via a conduction band to a reduction mechanism via a valence band (oxygen reduction in the dark).