Spin Field Effect Transistors with Ultracold Atoms

We propose a method of constructing cold atom analogs of the spintronic device known as the Datta-Das transistor (DDT), which, despite its seminal conceptual role in spintronics, has never been successfully realized with electrons. We propose two alternative schemes for an atomic DDT, both of which are based on the experimental setup for tripod stimulated Raman adiabatic passage. Both setups involve atomic beams incident on a series of laser fields mimicking the relativistic spin-orbit coupling for electrons that is the operating mechanism of the DDT.