image: Dinesh Bettadapur brings a wealth of business experience and strategic vision to Irresistible Materials, having previously held leadership roles at ASML, Intel, and Lam Research, as well as multiple Silicon Valley startups where he enabled significant business growth leading to three successful exits.
Credit: Irresistible Materials
University of Birmingham spin-out Irresistible Materials Ltd (IM), a leader in the development of novel resist materials for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, has announced the appointment of Dinesh R. Bettadapur as its new chief executive officer (CEO) and board director.
Bettadapur brings a wealth of business experience and strategic vision to the company, having previously held leadership roles at ASML, Intel, and Lam Research, as well as multiple Silicon Valley startups where he enabled significant business growth leading to three successful exits.
In his new role, Bettadapur will lead IM’s business strategy and commercial engagements to propel IM into its next phase of growth and innovation.
Specifically, he will drive the adoption of IM’s innovative Extreme Ultra Violet (EUV) photoresist platform.
EUV systems are used to print the most intricate layers on leading edge silicon chips, and their further development is vital to address the semiconductor industry’s need for ever-decreasing microchip feature sizes. IM’s Multi-Trigger Resist (MTR™) platform has been designed from the ground up specifically for EUV lithography (printing) and addresses the limitations of legacy resist materials.
It is up to two times faster than competing resists, and has the potential to result in annual cost-of-ownership (CoO) savings of approximately US$10-15 million per EUV scanner operating in a high-tech production workshop.
Building on strong foundations
IM is a spin-out from the University of Birmingham. Since 2010, the company has grown its partner network and developed an extensive portfolio covering innovative resists for EUV, electron beam (e-beam) and hard-mask materials used in lithography.
Today, it is an innovative EUV resist company with its MTR platform, which is an IP protected, novel photoresist approach that has been designed specifically to enable EUV lithography at both low and high numerical aperture (NA), enabling printing of tiny features on silicon wafers.
According to IM, based on a combination of internal analysis and industry research data, the global EUV photoresist market is expected to grow at a substantial compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 20% and exceed US$1 billion by the end of the decade.
EUV Photoresist Innovation
IM’s MTR technology effectively meets the challenges of an industry that needs to push the limits of EUV lithography to further reduce the size of chip feature sizes.
Its patented small-molecule design is 10 times smaller than conventional polymers, enabling superior resolution and pattern fidelity. The Multi-Trigger chemistry enhances chemical gradients, reducing blurring and improving line edge roughness (LER) and line width roughness (LWR).
It is also two times faster than other resists, achieving sub-30 mJ/cm² patterning for lower CoO, and its PFAS/PFOS-free and metal-free formulations support greener, impurity-free semiconductor manufacturing.
Daniel Armbrust, Chairman of the board for Irresistible Materials, said, “We are delighted to welcome Dinesh Bettadapur as our new CEO and board member. With his proven track record in delivering significant business growth across several advanced technologies, vast industry network and entrepreneurial experience, Dinesh is uniquely qualified to lead the company toward establishing a market leadership position for our flagship EUV resist technology.”