Fused SiO2has been used as a new noncrystalline host for the fabrication of two types of neodymium‐doped room‐temperature lasers, one of which operates at 1.06‐&mgr;m and the other at 1.08‐&mgr;m wavelength. The lasers have the geometry of clad optical fibers, with active cores as small as 15‐&mgr;m diameter by 1‐cm length. They are end pumped at 0.590 and 0.5145 &mgr;m with a pulsed dye laser and an argon ion laser, respectively. Thresholds as low as 1–2 mW of absorbed pump power in a 40‐&mgr;m‐diam core have been obtained, and eventual pumping with high‐radiance semiconductor optical sources appears feasible.