Inversion of the longitudinal component of spin angular momentum in the focus of a left-handed circularly polarized beam

It has been shown theoretically and numerically that in the sharp focus of a circularly polarized optical vortex, the longitudinal component of the spin angular momentum vector is inverted. Moreover, if the input light to the optical system is left-hand circularly polarized, it has been shown to be right-hand polarized in the focus near the optical axis. Since this effect occurs near the focus where a backward energy flow takes place, such an inversion of the spin angular momentum can be used to detect the backward energy flow.