Photoexcitation of electron wave packets in quantum spin Hall edge states: Effects of chiral anomaly from a localized electric pulse

We show that, when a spatially localized electric pulse is applied at the edge of a quantum spin Hall system, electron wave packets of the helical states can be photoexcited by purely intrabranch electrical transitions, without invoking the bulk states or the magnetic Zeeman coupling. In particular, as long as the electric pulse remains applied, the photoexcited densities lose their character of right and left movers, whereas after the ending of the pulse they propagate in opposite directions without dispersion, i.e., maintaining their space profile unaltered. Notably we find that, while the momentum distribution of the photoexcited wave packets depends on the temperature T and the chemical potential ? of the initial equilibrium state and displays a nonlinear behavior on the amplitude of the applied pulse, in the mesoscopic regime the space profile of the wave packets is independent of T and ?. Instead, it depends purely on the applied electric pulse, in a linear manner, as a signature of the chiral anomaly characterizing massless Dirac electrons. We also discuss how the photoexcited wave packets can be tailored with the electric pulse parameters, for both low and finite frequencies.