We report the fabrication and characterization of facetless Bragg reflector surface‐emitting AlGaAs/GaAs lasers. Both first‐order (120‐nm period) and second‐order (240‐nm period) gratings were fabricated by electron‐beam lithography and chemically assisted ion‐beam etching (CAIBE). These grating pairs provide the optical feedback of the laser, eliminating the need for cleaved or etched mirror facets. Specifically, this work includes: the fabrication and testing of a variable pitch grating‐laser array which demonstrates optical emission peaks with 5‐Å separation for adjacent lasers; demonstration of facetless Bragg reflector lasers with 120/240‐nm grating pairs that show lower threshold currents, higher quantum efficiencies, and improved beam width compared to conventional facetless second‐order grating lasers; and a demonstration of grating surface‐emitting diode lasers with hybrid first‐order and nonresonant, 120/307‐nm, grating pairs that produced a directed beam at 45° with respect to the substrate. The fabrication technology and optical performance of these devices are presented.