Patent ID: 7090896

Claim:
A process for producing dielectric layers, comprising: (a) providing a composition comprising, (i) a sol-gel product of at least one multifunctional carbosilane, said multifunctional carbosilane being free of Si—H bonds and being selected from one or more compounds represented by the following general formula (I), or oligomers thereof, R 1 4-i Si[(CH 2 ) n Si(OR 2 ) a R 3 3-a ] i (I) in which, R 1 =alkyl, or aryl, i=2 to 4, n=1 to 10, R 2 =alkyl, or aryl, a=1 to 3 and R 3 =alkyl, or aryl, and in the event that a=1, R 2 may also be hydrogen, and (ii) a pore-forming material selected from the group consisting of high-boiling solvents, foaming agents and thermally labile constituents; (b) applying said composition to a substrate; and (c) thermally treating said composition applied to said substrate at a temperature of 200 to 600° C. in an atmosphere selected from air and nitrogen, thereby forming said dielectric layer, said dielectric layer having a porosity, wherein the porosity of said dielectric layer is formed by evaporation or decomposition of said pore-forming material during the thermal treatment step, further wherein said thermal treatment step is conducted by means selected from the group consisting of a standard industrial oven, a hotplate, microwave energy, IR light, laser light and other energetic electromagnetic radiation.