We study the spontaneous emission of an excited atom close to an optical nanofiber and the resulting scattering forces. For a suitably chosen orientation of the atomic dipole, the spontaneous emission pattern becomes asymmetric and a resonant Casimir-Polder force parallel to the fiber axis arises. For a simple model case, we show that such a lateral force is due to the interaction of the circularly oscillating atomic dipole moment with its image inside the material. With the Casimir–Polder energy being constant in the lateral direction, the predicted lateral force does not derive from a potential in the usual way. Our results have implications for optical force measurements on a substrate as well as for laser cooling of atoms in nanophotonic traps.

• Received 6 May 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.92.043819