The laser emission spectra of several vertical cavity surface emitting lasers, following pulsed laser excitation, have been measured with a temporal resolution of <1 ps. With broadband excitation, emission was observed from multiple longitudinal modes when pumped well above threshold. The output‐pulse decay times of modes located near the edges of the high reflecting zone were significantly shorter than the decay times of modes located near zone center. The zone‐edge modes were not observed when narrow‐band photoexcitation was used, indicating that broadband excitation results in seeding of the laser cavity. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.