Legacy
ARCONS
The first astronomical instrument built with optical/UV MKIDs — a 2,024-pixel camera for the Palomar and Lick telescopes.
2,024 px
0.38–1.1 µm
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Mazin Lab · UC Santa Barbara
Detecting New Worlds,
One Photon at a Time
We design and deploy Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors and instruments based on them for Astronomy, Bioimaging, and Quantum Information. MKIDs are superconducting sensors capable of measuring the energy, arrival time, and position of every individual photon from ultraviolet through near-infrared wavelengths.
Superconducting Eyes
on the Universe
The Mazin Lab at UCSB builds MKID-based cameras and spectrographs that operate at temperatures just above absolute zero. Because MKIDs have zero read noise and measure each photon's energy individually, they enable science that is impossible with conventional detectors—direct imaging of exoplanets, characterization of exoplanet atmospheres, and studies of the most energetic events in the cosmos.
Learn about MKID technology →- 20,000+ Pixel arrays
- UV → IR Photon counting
- 0 Read noise
- 4 Active instruments
Our Instruments
From the Subaru Telescope to a balloon-borne coronagraph, our cameras are observing targets that no other instrument can reach.
Legacy
Legacy
DARKNESS
The first MKID-based integral field spectrograph for high-contrast direct imaging of exoplanets at Palomar Observatory.
10,000 px
800–1,400 nm
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Active
MEC
MKID Exoplanet Camera at Subaru Telescope — the world's first operational MKID instrument dedicated to high-contrast imaging of exoplanets.
20,440 px
800–1,400 nm
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Active
XKID
MKID integral field spectrograph at Magellan Clay telescope behind MagAO-X, enabling high-contrast direct imaging from the Southern Hemisphere.
20,440 px
800–1,400 nm
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Upcoming
MOMOS
A seeing-limited multi-object spectrograph using MKIDs for noiseless, time-resolved spectroscopy of faint transients and variable sources.
Visible
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Upcoming
MEC Prime
An upgraded successor to MEC with improved wavelength resolution and more functional pixels for exoplanet atmosphere characterization.
Learn more →Recent News
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New NSF and NASA Funding
We have been funded by NSF to upgrade our MEC instrument, and by NASA for a novel MKID project.
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Aled Cuda Wins NSF GRF
Graduate Student Aled Cuda won the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.
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YouTube Channel Launch
We have started a YouTube Channel!
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Kim and Mohammad Win Fellowships
Graduate Student Crystal Kim won the NSTGRO Fellowship, and graduate student Majid Mohammad won the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.
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XKID Deployed to Chile
The XKID instrument has been successfully deployed to the Clay Telescope in Chile.
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Hawkins Clay Receives NSTGRO
Graduate Student Hawkins Clay received the NSTGRO fellowship.
Experimental Astrophysics
Follow our YouTube channel for behind-the-scenes videos of MKID detector fabrication, cryogenic lab work, telescope observing runs, and astrophysics explainers from the Mazin Lab team.
Interested in Joining the Lab?
We welcome inquiries from prospective graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and potential collaborators. Reach out to Professor Mazin directly.