We have reflected a Stark-decelerated beam of OH molecules under normal incidence from mirrors consisting of permanent magnets. Two different types of magnetic mirrors have been demonstrated. A long-range flat mirror made from a large disc magnet has
been used to spatially focus the reflected beam in the longitudinal direction (bunching). A short-range curved mirror composed of an array of small cube magnets allows for transverse focusing of the reflected beam.
We report on the Stark deceleration and electrostatic trapping of $^{14}$NH ($a ^1Delta$) radicals. In the trap, the molecules are excited on the spin-forbidden $A ^3Pi leftarrow a ^1Delta$ transition and detected via their subsequent fluorescence to
the $X ^3Sigma^-$ ground state. The 1/e trapping time is 1.4 $pm$ 0.1 s, from which a lower limit of 2.7 s for the radiative lifetime of the $a ^1Delta, v=0,J=2$ state is deduced. The spectral profile of the molecules in the trapping field is measured to probe their spatial distribution. Electrostatic trapping of metastable NH followed by optical pumping of the trapped molecules to the electronic ground state is an important step towards accumulation of these radicals in a magnetic trap.
