Yinzi Xin works with astrophotonics at the California Institute of Technology – her work involves imaging and characterising exoplanets, as well as designing and experimenting with novel instruments to reject unwanted starlight. 

Her main project is the Photonic Lantern Nulling Interferometer – a design she conceptualised – which enables broadband, high-resolution spectroscopy of exoplanets at and within the diffraction limit of a telescope. Over the coming year, Xin plans to implement wavefront sensing for the device and test the limits of its starlight suppression.