Microgun‐pumped lasers, in which electron beam pumping is achieved via an array of low‐voltage, field‐emission microtips, were demonstrated in the blue and blue‐green regions of the spectrum. The devices exploit graded index, separate confinement Zn1−xCdxSe/ZnSe heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy on In1−xGaxAs(100) substrates. Lasing thresholds were in the 4–20 kW/cm2range for temperatures between 83 and 225 K, and the device lifetime exceed several hours at a 12.5% duty cycle for a laser operating at 83 K and a wavelength of 478.4 nm. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.