Korean startup aweXome Ray has recently entered the race to develop pellicle materials for semiconductor manufacturing. A pellicle is a thin film component that protects the photomask and wafer from particle contamination and heat damage during EUV (extreme ultraviolet) lithography. Believing pellicle materials will become a future growth engine, aweXome Ray is now focusing its efforts on their development and commercialization.
The company originally began by developing CNT (carbon nanotube)-based air purification systems and low-dose X-ray devices. When aweXome Ray raised its Series B funding in 2022, pellicle development was not part of its business plan. Some questioned the sudden pivot into a completely new field.
Now, starting with pellicles, aweXome Ray intends to expand CNT applications into a full-fledged materials business across multiple industries. Lightweight CNT-based wiring is a particular area the company sees as a major opportunity. “By plating copper onto CNTs, we can create wires that have the same conductivity as copper but weigh only one-fifth as much,” said CEO Kim Se-hoon. “The potential demand in electric vehicles, space launch systems, and satellites is enormous.”
Kim added, “This finally feels like the company I envisioned when founding aweXome Ray.” A Ph.D. in materials science from Seoul National University, Kim had been studying CNTs long before starting the company. At the time, the CNT market was still small. “We couldn’t just sit back and wait for the market to grow,” he said. The company’s earlier products—air purifiers and X-ray devices—were essentially vehicles to introduce CNT technology to the market
