Controllable surface electrostatic velocity filter for polar molecules

We propose a scheme of a surface electrostatic velocity filter capable of preparing cold polar molecules on the surface of a substrate by selecting a low-velocity component of an effusive beam from a thermal gas reservoir. Using ND3 as a molecular sample, the dependence of the performance of the filter on the parameters of both the filter setup and the incident molecular beam is investigated by using a theoretical model and Monte Carlo simulations. A detailed study of the guiding process of molecules, including the evolution of phase space density of the packet in the filter, is carried out and shows that the beam selection process is mainly completed in the front part of the filter. (paper)