Searching for Faint Exozodiacal Disks: Keck Results and LBTI Status

The possible presence of dust in the habitable zone around nearby main-sequence stars is considered as a major hurdle toward the direct imaging of Earth-like extrasolar planets with future dedicated space-based telescopes (e.g., Roberge et al. 2012). In this context, NASA has funded two ground-based mid-infrared nulling interferometers to combine the large apertures available at the Keck Observatory and the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). In this poster, we present the preliminary results of the extended survey carried out with the Keck Interferometer Nuller (KIN) between 2008 and 2011 and describe the forthcoming LBTI survey