Tunable high-power terahertz radiation generation in three-level atomic and molecular systems

A scheme is presented for generation of powerful coherent terahertz radiation by multiphoton resonant excitation of three-level hydrogenlike atoms and homonuclear diatomic molecules or molecular ions with strong laser pulses. The results of analytical and numerical investigations of the problem show that with the proposed mechanism one can achieve the implementation of widely tunable powerful terahertz sources, which may open new perspectives for terahertz science and its applications.