Software & Open Source

Tools, pipelines, and instruments developed by Mazin Lab

Mazin Lab develops and releases open-source software alongside our instruments and detector research. Our tools span readout firmware, data reduction pipelines, instrument simulators, and hardware drivers.

Interactive Tools

Cryogenic Flex Cable Heat Load Calculator

A web-based tool for computing thermal conduction heat loads in flexible coaxial cables at cryogenic temperatures (0.1–300 K). Supports coaxial and ribbon cable geometries with material thermal conductivity data from NIST and Lakeshore references.

Try it: FlaxHeatLoadCalc | GitHub: MazinLab/FlaxHeatLoadCalc

Reference: Smith et al. 2024, IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity.

Readout & Firmware

MKIDGen3 Readout Firmware

RFSoC-based readout system for 2,048+ MKID channels per board. Replaces the previous ROACH2-based Gen2 system with a 5× reduction in weight and power and a 10× reduction in cost per pixel. Fully open-source and designed for future megapixel arrays and space deployment.

GitHub: MazinLab/MKIDReadout | MazinLab/MKIDGen3

Published: Smith et al. 2024. arXiv:2406.09764

RFSoC Oversampled Polyphase Filter Bank

A high-throughput oversampled polyphase filter bank (OPFB) implemented on Xilinx RFSoC, designed for channelizing the MKID readout signal. Uses HLS and PYNQ for rapid prototyping.

GitHub: MazinLab/RFSoC_OPFB

Data Reduction & Analysis

MKID Science Data Pipeline

A general-purpose data reduction pipeline for UVOIR MKID data from ground-based instruments. Handles photon list processing, wavelength calibration, flat-fielding, cosmic ray rejection, and output to science-ready data products. Used as the primary pipeline for MEC and XKID.

GitHub: MazinLab/MKIDPipeline

MKID Speckle Control

Focal plane wavefront sensing and speckle control with MKIDs. Interfaces with the CACAO deformable mirror system for real-time starlight suppression on coronagraphic instruments like MEC and SCExAO.

GitHub: MazinLab/MKIDSpeckleControl

Simulators

MEDIS — MKID Exoplanet Direct Imaging Simulator

An end-to-end simulator for MKID-based high-contrast imaging instruments. MEDIS propagates light through a model atmosphere, telescope, AO system, and coronagraph to simulate the photon-counting data stream, enabling performance predictions and observing strategy optimization.

GitHub: MazinLab/MEDIS

MOMOS Simulator

The instrument simulator and data reduction package for the Multi-Object MKID Optical Spectrometer. Enables end-to-end simulation of MOMOS observations including spectral rebinning and time-resolved spectroscopy.

GitHub: MazinLab/MOMOSpecSim

Published: Kim et al. 2025, Astronomical Journal.

Instrument Control

FROST — Fridge Remote Operations, Status & Thermometry

A Rust-based system for remote monitoring and control of dilution refrigerators. Provides real-time temperature readouts, heater control, and operational status for cryogenic instrumentation.

GitHub: MazinLab/FROST

Hardware Drivers

Python and Rust drivers for lab equipment used across our cryogenic systems:

  • lakeshore-python — Lake Shore temperature controllers and instruments
  • jpe — JPE piezo cryogenic positioning stages (Rust)
  • cryomech_driver — Cryomech compressor monitoring and control
  • python-FLI — Finger Lakes Instrumentation camera bindings

All of our software is available on GitHub.