Wide gap II‐VI semiconductors have strong second order susceptibilities &khgr;(2)and are therefore promising materials for efficient second harmonic generation. We have grown high quality single crystalline ZnSe/ZnTe/ZnSe/GaAs (001) waveguides by metalorganic‐vapor‐phase‐epitaxy. Using end‐fire coupling we observe a phase matched signal of the 1170.5 nm fundamental wave. The fundamental beam is generated by a tuneable KTP optical‐parametric‐oscillator pumped by a ps‐Ti:sapphire laser system. Phase matching is achieved by coupling the TE0fundamental mode with the TM2second harmonic mode within the symmetric ZnTe waveguide. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.