title: Optically engineering the topological properties of a spin Hall insulator.
abstract: Time-periodic perturbations can be used to engineer topological properties of matter by altering the Floquet band structure. This is demonstrated for the helical edge state of a spin Hall insulator in the presence of monochromatic circularly polarized light. The inherent spin structure of the edge state is influenced by the Zeeman coupling and not by the orbital effect. The photocurrent (and the magnetization along the edge) develops a finite, helicity-dependent expectation value and turns from dissipationless to dissipative with increasing radiation frequency, signalling a change in the topological properties. The connection with Thouless' charge pumping and nonequilibrium zitterbewegung is discussed, together with possible experiments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budafoki út 8, 1111 Budapest, Hungary. dora@kapica.phy.bme.hu
authors.forename: Balázs
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dóra
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cayssol
authors.forename: Ferenc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: Roderich
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moessner