  We have shown that a coherently driven solid state medium can potentially
produce strong controllable short pulses of THz radiation. The high efficiency
of the technique is based on excitation of maximal THz coherence by applying
resonant optical pulses to the medium. The excited coherence in the medium is
connected to macroscopic polarization coupled to THz radiation. We have
performed detailed simulations by solving the coupled density matrix and
Maxwell equations. By using a simple $V$-type energy scheme for ruby, we have
demonstrated that the energy of generated THz pulses ranges from hundreds of
pico-Joules to nano-Joules at room temperature and micro-Joules at liquid
helium temperature, with pulse durations from picoseconds to tens of
nanoseconds. We have also suggested a coherent ruby source that lases on two
optical wavelengths and simultaneously generates THz radiation. We discussed
also possibilities of extension of the technique to different solid-state
materials.
