Classical rotations of asymmetric rigid bodies are unstable around the axis of intermediate moment of inertia, causing a flipping of rotor orientation. This effect, known as the tennis racket effect, quickly averages to zero in classical ensembles since the flipping period varies significantly upon approaching the separatrix. Here, we explore the quantum rotations of rapidly spinning thermal asymmetric nanorotors and show that classically forbidden tunneling gives rise to persistent tennis racket dynamics, in stark contrast to the classical expectation. We characterize this effect, demonstrating that quantum coherent flipping dynamics can persist even in the regime where millions of angular momentum states are occupied. This persistent flipping offers a promising route for observing and exploiting quantum effects in rotational degrees of freedom for molecules and nanoparticles.

• Received 31 March 2020
• Accepted 13 July 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.053604