We report the first use of chemically assisted ion beam etching to form laser mirrors on GaAlAs graded index separate confinement single quantum well heterostructures grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Over 80 mW cw optical power is obtained from the etched facet of uncoated 300‐&mgr;m‐long, etched/cleaved 60 &mgr;m stripe devices mountedpside up, and catastrophic failure occurs at a cw power as high as 205 mW. Differential quantum efficiencies for light emitted from the etched facet are 32% pulsed (27% cw) and the threshold current is 145 mA pulsed (150 mA cw).