The realization of electrically pumped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum cascade microcylinder lasers is reported. Design and fabrication of special resonator shapes (microcylinder and ridge waveguide) are presented. Threshold characteristics and optical output of different resonators of the same quantum cascade laser material emitting at 10 mu m are investigated. A low threshold current of 318 mA is obtained for a microcylinder resonator with circular cross section. The maximum working temperature of the microcylinder lasers is 165 K. Single mode emission is detected with a side mode suppression ratio better than 20 dB. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)04334-X].