The equations for coherent pulse propagation in an iodine laser are numerically solved for various combinations of saturable absorber and amplifier sections. The intention is to translate recent progress in iodine lasers into design of a 80hyphen;J subnanosecond laser suitable for use in target irradiation studies. The interaction between saturable amplification and absorption, coherent transient responses, and relaxation of the lower hyperfine levels offer many pulsehyphen;shaping possibilities; particular attention is given to pulse shortening and prepulse suppression. For a modehyphen;locked 1.0hyphen;nsec oscillator the best balance between performance and complexity suggests three amplifiers of varying bandwidths and one absorber, shortening the pulse to 0.34 nsec. Single element calculations are also shown which clarify the characteristics of these nonlinear components and allow some intuitive understanding.
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