We propose a practical scheme to generate a pure valley current in monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides by one-photon absorption of linearly polarized light. We show that the pure valley current can be detected by either photoluminescence measurements or the ultrafast pump-probe technique. Our method, together with the previously demonstrated generation of valley polarization, opens up the exciting possibility of ultrafast optical-only manipulation of the valley index. The tilted field effect on the valley current in experiment is also discussed.

• Received 18 August 2014
• Revised 10 December 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.91.035402