We calculate the force of a quasicircularly polarized guided light field of a nanofiber on a dielectric spherical particle. We show that the orbital parts of the axial and azimuthal components of the Poynting vector are always positive, while the spin parts can be either positive or negative. We find that, for appropriate values of the size parameter of the particle, the azimuthal component of the force is directed oppositely to the circulation direction of the energy flow around the nanofiber. The occurrence of such a negative azimuthal force indicates that the particle undergoes a negative torque.

• Received 16 November 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.88.063845