A new type of decelerator is presented where polar neutral molecules are
guided and decelerated using the principle of traveling electric potential
wells, such that molecules are confined in stable three-dimensional traps
throughout. This new decelerator is superior to the best currently operational
decelerator (Scharfenberg et al., Phys.Rev.A 79, 023410(2009)), providing a
substantially larger acceptance even at higher accelerations. The mode of
operation is described and experimentally demonstrated by guiding and
decelerating CO molecules.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure