We report 10 mW cw room‐temperature operation of an electrically pumped vertical‐cavity surface‐emitting laser diode without a heat sink. This same laser produces 19 mW cw when cooled slightly below room temperature. In addition, we present a 9 mW cw laser with a threshold voltage of 1.6 V, and series resistance of 18 &OHgr;. These are the first surface‐emitting lasers fabricated by phase‐locked epitaxy. They are also believed to be the highest power and lowest threshold voltage electrically pumped vertical‐cavity structures reported to date. These results establish that phase‐locked epitaxy has important applications in the fabrication of surface‐emitting lasers and many other structures with similar materials requirements.