A high-power, diode-pumped, semiconductor saturable absorber mode-locked Yb(5%):KGW bulk laser was demonstrated with high optical-to-optical efficiency. Average output power as high as 8.8 W with optical-to-optical efficiency of 37.5% was obtained for Nm-polarized laser output with 162 fs pulse duration and 142 nJ pulse energy at a pulse repetition frequency of 62 MHz. For Np polarization, 143 fs pulses with pulse energy of 139 nJ and average output power of up to 8.6 W with optical-to-optical efficiency of 31% were generated.

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A stable mode-locking regime at a repetition rate of 70 MHz with 5 W average power, maximum output pulse energy of about 71 nJ, and pulse duration of 114 fs were obtained in an Yb + 3 :KY(WO 4 ) 2 laser with longitudinal 'off-axis' diode pumping. Optical-to-optical laser efficiency was as high as 33.3%. A semiconductor saturable absorber including quantum wells with nanostructured barriers was designed and manufactured for this laser.

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