We report on a detailed investigation of continuous-wave and SESAM mode-locked (ML) laser operation an Yb:SrLaAlO 4 laser. Pumped with high-brightness fiber at 976 nm, the ML delivered soliton pulses as short 38 fs 1071 nm average output power 86 mW pulse repetition rate ?59 MHz. The maximum reached 1.05 W 1054 for longer (94 fs), corresponding to peak 146 kW optical efficiency 38.6%. To best o...