Three cutting‑edge projects chosen for the 2025 IMB-CNM TRIGGER call

The IMB-CNM announces the three selected projects of the 2025 TRIGGER call, an internal funding scheme that spans across IMB‑CNM’ strategic research axes, ranging from integrated photon detectors and quantum sensing to superconducting device technologies and microscale batteries for the environment.

The TRIGGER Projects will start officially next Monday, February 1st. They constitute an internal funding scheme designed to foster the professional growth of young researchers at IMB‑CNM by enabling them to develop their own research ideas. The program provides an additional springboard for early‑career scientists, supporting them as they build competitive proposals for major funding opportunities, particularly ERC Starting and Consolidator Grants. Over the course of 24 months and with a budget of up to €30,000, postdoctoral researchers Neil Moffat, Carlo Pepe and Ferran Pujol are the leaders of the selected projects.

With the second call underway, following the first edition in 2024, this initiative further consolidates IMB‑CNM’s role as a María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence.

LiMA: Linear-Mode Single-Photon Detector

• PI: Neil Moffat

LiMA develops a linear‑mode single‑photon detector for the visible spectrum using LGAD-based high‑gain avalanche structures, offering a proportional response unlike conventional Geiger‑mode detectors. By reducing noise, dead time, and afterpulsing—while remaining compatible with CMOS processes—the project aims to enable compact, integrable photon‑detection platforms. The detector will be co‑designed with silicon nitride photonic circuits for low‑loss light routing. LiMA will design, fabricate, and demonstrate this approach, paving the way for next‑generation quantum technologies and precision sensing.

KICK-IN: Innovating Kinetic Inductance Current Sensor devices in view of a future SPS-Chip Technology

• PI: Carlo Pepe

KICK‑IN focuses on advancing superconducting readout devices through the development of Kinetic Inductance Current Sensors (KICS), a central element of the proposed Single Pixel Superconducting Chip (SPS‑Chip). The project introduces ion irradiation as a technique to locally tune superconducting properties in a single thin film, simplifying fabrication while increasing reproducibility and design flexibility. By demonstrating the first standalone KICS prototypes and validating them through simulation and experiments, KICK‑IN supports scalable detector architectures and strengthens IMB‑CNM’s contribution to quantum sensing and cryogenic electronics.

STEM: Stimuli-enabled microbatteries for smart bioelectronics

• PI: Ferran Pujol

STEM redefines the microbattery as an active functional element capable of responding to its biological environment. Unlike standard electrolyte‑activated microbatteries that deliver passive power upon fluid contact, STEM envisions stimuli‑responsive microscale batteries whose electrochemical behaviour adapts to biological cues or external triggers. These devices aim to modulate the surrounding biological environment or power low‑energy circuits, acting as self‑contained, chip‑less smart bioelectronic components. The project marks a major step forward for autonomous micro‑power systems in next‑generation biointerfaces.