Denis Defrere (Univ. Arizona): Infrared interferometric detection of exozodiacal dust: status and prospects

The presence of large amounts of exozodiacal dust around nearby main sequence stars is considered as a potential threat for the direct detection of Earth-like exoplanets with future space-based coronagraphic and interferometric missions. It is therefore important to observe and characterize exozodiacal dust in advance before launching such expensive instruments. In this talk, I'll present briefly the latest results obtained in this field with various infrared interferometers (i.e., CHARA, VLTI, and Keck) and describe the forthcoming survey with the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI).