text: “ silanes ” as my be used herein are compounds which contain one or more silicon - silicon bonds . the term “ silanyl ” refers to the silane radical as it may occur in the polycarbosilanes or the polycarbosilane generated derivatives ( polyorganosilicon compounds ) of the present invention . the term “ polysilane ” is intended to include oligomeric and polymeric silanes ; i . e ., compounds which include two or more monomeric silane units . “ siloxanes ” as may be used herein are compounds which contain one or more silicon - oxygen bonds and may or may not contain cyclic units . the term “ siloxyl ” refers to a siloxane radical as it may occur in the polycarbosilanes or the polycarbosilane generated derivatives ( polyorganosilicon compounds ) of the present invention . the terms “ polysiloxane ” and “ siloxane polymer ” as may be used herein are intended to include oligomeric and polymeric siloxanes , i . e ., compounds which include two or more monomeric siloxane units . the term “ organic ” or “ organo ” refers to a branched , unbranched , or cyclic hrdrocarbon group or radical or 1 to 26 carbon atoms , typically or 1 to 8 carbon atoms . “ organic ” or “ organo ” groups include , among others , alkyl , alkenyl , alkylene , and aryl groups . the process according to the present invention is carried out by first providing the polycarbosilane of the above described formula ( i ) and then subjecting the polycarbosilane to a multistage heating process to convert the polycarbosilane to a polyorganosilicon material having a low dielectric constant . the multistage heating processes herein are sequential heating steps at substantially isothermal plateaus under controlled environmental conditions to achieve conversion of the polycarbosilane to a polyorganosilicon material having the beneficial electrically insulating characteristic of a dielectric constant ( k ) of less than 4 . the multistage heating steps are carried out at sequentially increasing temperatures of from 50 ° c . to 450 ° c . to convert the polycarbosilane of formula ( i ) into a low k polyorganosilicon material . the sequential multistage heating steps herein operate at substantially isothermal temperature step plateaus of less than 100 ° c ., 200 ° c ., 400 ° c . and 450 ° c . the instant process can be carried out under a totally open ( or oxidizing ) atmospheric environment in which case the polycarbosilane is oxidized in the crosslinking conversion to the low k polyorganosilicon composition . alternatively , the instant multistage process can be entirely carried out in an inert ( or non - reactive ) environment such as under a nitrogen or argon gas blanket to prevent oxidation of the instantly prepared polycarbosilane generated organosilicon polymer , if so desired . the final heating step of the present process is a curing step at temperatures above 400 ° c . and is generally conducted in a non - oxidizing environment to harden the particular polycarbosilane generated low k polyorganosilicon coating . it is to be understood that the present multistage process or any part hereof can be carried out under any environment such as inert gas , air atmosphere , unreactive gas , oxygenating gas , or mixtures thereof without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention . in the general formula ( i ) of the particular polycarbosilanes used in the present process , the substituents r 1 , r 7 , and r 10 groups of the formula ( i ) polycarbosilanes independently represent a substituted or unsubstituted alkylene , cycloalkylene or an arylene group . the arylene group may be any divalent aromatic hydrocarbon such as phenylenes and naphthenes . the r 1 alkylene , cycloalkylene , or arylene groups insure the thermal stability of the polycarbosilane starting materials during the intense energy applications of the invention , particularly the multistage heating process . r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 , r 6 , r 8 , and r 9 each independently represents a hydrogen atom or an organic group in the form of a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl , alkenyl , alkynyl , or aryl group . the alkyl , alkenyl , and alkynyl groups generally contain from about 1 to 8 carbon atoms . preferred polycarbosilanes of the present invention include dihydrido polycarbosilanes in which the r 2 group is a hydrogen atom and appendant radicals are non - existent ; that is y , z and w are all zero . another preferred group of polycarbosilanes are those in which the r 2 , r 3 , r 4 , r 5 , r 8 , and r 9 groups of formula ( i ) are substituted or unsubstituted alkenyl groups having from 2 to 8 carbon atoms . the alkenyl group may be ethenyl , propenyl , allyl , butenyl or any other unsaturated organic backbone radical having up to 10 carbon atoms . the alkenyl group may be dienyl in nature and includes unsaturated alkenyl radicals appended or substituted on an otherwise alkyl or unsaturated organic polymer backbone . examples of these preferred polycarbosilanes include dihydrido or alkenyl substituted polycarbosilanes include dihydridopolycarbosilane and allylhydride - polycarbosilane . as can be observed in formula i , the polycarbosilanes utilized in the present process may contain oxidized radicals in the form of siloxyl groups when z & gt ; 0 . accordingly , r 6 represents an organosilicon , a silanyl , a siloxyl , or an organo group when z & gt ; 0 . it is to be appreciated that the oxidized versions of the polycarbosilanes of formula i ( z & gt ; 0 ) operate very effectively in , and are well within the purview of , the multistep heating process of the present invention . as is equally apparent , z can be zero independently of x and y , the only conditions being that the radicals x , y , and z of the formula i polycarbosilanes must satisfy the conditions of [ 10 & lt ; x + y + z + w & lt ; 100 , 000 ], and y and z can collectively or independently be zero . the polycarbosilane compounds used herein can be produced from starting materials which are presently commercially available from many manufacturers . they may be produced by using conventional polymerizable processes . for example , the starting materials can be produced from common organo silane compounds or from polysilane as a starting material by heating an admixture of polysilane with polyborosiloxane in an inert atmosphere to thereby produce the corresponding polymer or by heating an admixture of polysilane with a low molecular weight carbosilane in an inert atmosphere to thereby produce the corresponding polymer or by heating an admixture of polysilane with a low molecular carbosilane in an inert atmosphere and in the presence of a catalyst such as polyborodiphenylsiloxane to thereby produce the corresponding polymer . polycarbosilanes can also be synthesized by grignard reaction reported in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 153 , 295 hereby incorporated by reference . note that polycarbosilanes are well known as being useful as raw materials in the production of silicone carbide fibers as well as film coatings for electrical devices . the instant polycarbosilane of the above - mentioned formula i is applied from a suitable solvent onto a substrate to form a film layer to be subjected to the process herein . in a preferred embodiment , a solvent solution of the polycarbosilane of formula i is applied onto a substrate having electrically conductive components fabricated therein . a wide variety of organic solvents can be used herein insofar as they are able to dissolve the polycarbosilane and at the same time effectively control the viscosity of the resulting polymeric solution as a coating solution . various facilitating measures such as stirring and / or heating may be used to aid in the dissolution . suitable solvents include organic solvents such as methylisobutylketone ( mibk ), dibutyl ether , xylene , benzene , toluene , n - heptane , hexane , cyclohexane , octane , decane , or cyclic dimethylpolysiloxanes and the like . application of the instant polycarbosilanes onto planar or topographical surfaces or substrates can be carried out by using any conventional apparatus such as a spin coater , roller coater , and the like . preferably a spin coater is used , because the polycarbosilane used herein has a controlled viscosity suitable for such a coater . evaporation of the solvent by any suitable means such as simple air drying by exposure to an ambient environment during spin coating or by the application of a vacuum or mild heat ( e . g ., & lt ; 50 ° c .) yields the desired precursor polycarbosilane coating . the topographical substrate containing fabricated electric components , to which the solution of the polycarbosilane is applied , includes a wide variety of metal or electrically conducting layers found in conventional semiconductor devices . typical examples of such a layer include a circuit or wiring layer , an electrode layer , and the like , and the materials of these layers include al , cu , ti , tin , ta , tan , w , tiw , cvd - sio 2 , sion , psg and the like . the thickness of the polycarbosilane coating can be widely varied depending upon many factors of coating application such as particulars of the polycarbosilane used , other particulars including the concentration of the polycarbosilane solution , the wet coating process ( e . g . spin coating ), and configurations of the underlying layer , heating or baking temperatures , and the like . generally , the thickness of the polycarbosilane is preferred to be in the range of about 0 . 05 to 3 microns ( μm ) more preferably , about 0 . 1 to 2 microns ( μm ). after formation of the polycarbosilane - solvent coating , it is subjected to the thermal process of the present invention wherein the coating is subjected to multi - stage heating process at sequentially increasing temperatures ranging from 50 ° c . up to 450 ° c . to polymerize the coating to its hardened form without ceramifying the coating and destroying the polycarbosilane structure of the film . the multi - stage baking or heating process comprises ( 1 ) heating the coated polycarbosilane at a first isothermic plateau temperature not to exceed 100 ° c . in an atmospheric or nitrogen blanket environment for a time sufficient to remove the solvent and cross - link the polycarbosilane polymer ; ( 2 ) heating the polymer at a second higher isothermic plateau temperature in an atmospheric or nitrogen blanket environment of up to 200 ° c . for a sufficient period to further cross link the polycarbosilane coating , ( 3 ) heating the polymer to a third higher isothermic temperature plateau of up to 400 ° c . under an atmospheric or nitrogen blanket environment for a period sufficient to harden the polycarbosilane coating without causing complete oxidation or ceramification of the organo silicon polymer ; and finally ( 4 ) curing the polycarbosilane coating by heating it in a non - oxidizing ( inert or non - reactive gaseous ) environment at temperatures in excess of 400 ° c . for a sufficient period to yield a hardened partially oxidized or non oxidized cross - linked polycarbosilane polymer having an electrical dielectric constant of less than four . since the baking and curing takes place in an alternative atmospheric or nitrogen environment , a non oxidized , an oxidized , or a partially oxidized cross - linked polycarbosilane results depending on the environmental conditions ( oxygen atmosphere or inert gas ) in which the baking or curing steps occur . the controlled multi - step baking conditions enable the polycarbosilane coating to inter - react and cross link to a polyorganosilane derivative but remain unceramified ( oxidation to silicon dioxide ) and retentive of the organosilicon character of the polymerized polycarbosilane . the resulting dielectric layer has a dielectric constant k or less than 4 , preferably less than 3 , and most preferably less than 2 . 5 . the polyorganosilane physically demonstrates little generation of internal stress , thereby not subject to cracking , and good adhesion to flat or topographical conductive wire patterned surfaces or substrates . preferred increasing temperature plateaus in the instant multistep heating or baking process comprises a first step of from about 70 ° c . to 90 ° c . ; a second step of from 120 ° c . to 160 ° c . ; and a third step of from about 220 ° c . to 300 ° c . as will become apparent in the examples , the critical step of the present heating ( or baking ) and curing process of the present invention is that heating step above 200 ° c . and less than 400 ° c . it has been found that heating the polycarbosilane of formula ( i ) at elevated isothermic temperatures plateaus of up to 200 ° c . and then finally heating the processed polycarbosilane ( before curing ) at an isothermic temperature plateau of from 240 ° c . to 260 ° c . generates a polycarbosilane having a low dielectric constant of less than 3 . while not to be construed as limiting it is speculated that the processing under atmospheric ( oxygenated ) conditions results in the following partially oxidized cross - linked structure : the structure speculated when the instant process is completely carried out under non - oxygenated conditions is as follows : during the process formation of each of these structures , the silicon - hydrogen bonds in the precursor polycarbosilane polymers causes formation of strong adhesive bonding with the coated substrate . curing can be carried out at any temperature and time suitable for completion of the crosslinking and hardening of the polycarbosilane in an inert environment to a partially oxidized cross - linked dielectric layer . however the curing temperature should not be below 350 ° c . because a lower temperature is insufficient to complete the crosslinking of the polycarbosilane polymer . generally , it is preferred that curing is carried out at temperatures of from 400 ° c . to about 450 ° c . similarly , the curing time can be varied under consideration of the curing temperature and other conditions , and generally , the preferred range of curing time is from about 30 minutes to about 60 minutes . curing can be carried out in a conventional curing chamber such as an electric oven , hot plate , and the like . curing is carried out in a non - oxidizing atmosphere ( nitrogen , helium or the like ) in the curing chamber . the inert atmosphere generally used in the following examples is a nitrogen blanket . other non oxidizing or reducing atmospheres may be used in the practice of the present invention , if they are effective to conduct curing of the polycarbosilane to achieve the low k dielectric film herein . in illustrative fig1 a polycarbosilane dielectric interlayer 30 is shown coated on semiconductor substrate 10 . note that the instant dielectric layer 30 has a flat planarized surface not reproducing the stepped profile of the patterned metal layer which has two types of patterned steps , i . e ., a relatively wide step 20 a such as an electrode and a relatively narrow step 20 b such as wiring . after formation of the metal wirepattern layer 20 , the instant polycarbosilane layer is spin coated over the metal layer 20 using the polycarbosilane of formula ( i ) above . thereafter the layer is subjected to the multi - step heating and curing process herein described herein resulting in the flat dielectric interlayer 30 surface demonstrating the global planarization accomplished by the nature of the low k dielectric polycarbosilane film achieve in the practice of present process invention . naturally , the instant polycarbosilane and process can be used to sequentially coat multiple patterned metal layers . by the above methods a silicon - containing planarizing coating is produced on the substrate . the coating smoothes the irregular surfaces of various substrates and has excellent adhesion . in addition , this coating can be quite thick ( e . g . & gt ; 0 . 5 microns ). this polycarbosilane interlayer coating may also be covered by other coatings such as further sio 2 coatings , sio 2 / modifying ceramic oxide layers , silicon containing coatings , silicon carbon containing coatings , silicon nitrogen containing coatings , silicon nitrogen carbon containing coatings and / or diamond like carbon coatings . such multilayer coatings are taught in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 973 , 526 , which is incorporated herein by reference . and , of course , the polycarbosilanes prepared in the instant process can be formed as interlined deposition coatings or films between lined conductor elements on an electronic or fabricated semiconductor substrate . the following non - limiting examples are provided so that one skilled in the art may more readily understand the invention . 2 grams of allylhydridopolycarbosilane , [[ si ( ch 2 chch ) hch 2 ] 0 . 1 [ sih 2 ch 2 ] 0 . 9 ] n , ( ahpcs ) purchased from starfire systems , inc . was dissolved in 4 grams of anhydrous dibutyl ether . the solution was then filtered through a 0 . 2 micron filter . about 2 ml of this solution was dispensed onto the surface of a 4 ″ wafer and then the wafer was spun at 2000 rpm for 30 seconds . the coated wafer was heated in sequential elevated temperatures of 80 c ., 150 c ., and 250 c . for three minutes for each step under atmosphere ( air ) conditions . then the film was cured in a furnace at 400 c . for 30 minutes under nitrogen environment . ir spectra were obtained on the film as - spun and after each process step . the assignment of the infrared absorption of this material is shown in table 1 . the structural change of the spun film during the sequential heating and cure can be monitored by following the infrared spectra of the film after each process step ( shown in graph 1 and table 2 ). one obvious change during heating of the film is the decreasing intensity of si — h absorption at about 2130 cm − 1 . the integration of the si — h peak area ( shown below in graph 1 ) indicated the reaction of si — h during the process . concurrent with the decrease of si — h , was an increase in the absorption spectra at about 1050 cm − 1 , indicating formation of si — o bonding . the presence of the absorption at 1357 , 1048 , and 765 cm − 1 indicated the preservation of si — c structure in the process . the information obtained from infrared spectra suggests that the film after curing at 400 ° c . has retained the bonding linkages of si — c , si — h , si — o , and c — h . the refractive index was measured on a woolam ellipsometer . the film after cure at 400 c . showed film thickness of 6242 a and refractive index of 1 . 46 at 633 nm . the dielectric constant was measured by the standard cv curve technique at 1 mhz , using mos capacitor structure . the dielectric constant of the prepared film was 2 . 5 . 2 grams of allylhydridopolycarbosilane ( ahpcs ) purchased from starfire systems , inc . was dissolved in 4 grams of anhydrous dibutyl ether . the solution was then filtered through a 0 . 2 micron filter . about 2 ml of this solution was dispensed onto the surface of 4 ″ wafer and then the wafer was spun at 2000 rpm for 30 seconds . the coated wafer was heated at sequentially elevated temperatures of 80 c ., 150 c ., and 220 c . for three minutes each under atmosphere ( air ) conditions . then the film was cured in a furnace at 400 ° c . for 60 minutes under a nitrogen blanket environment . ir spectra were obtained from the film as - spun and after each process step . the assignment of the infrared absorption of this material is shown in table 1 . the structural change of the spun film during the sequential heating and cure can be monitored by following the infrared spectra of the film after each process step as indicated in table 2 . one obvious change during heating of the film is the decreasing intensity of si — h absorption at about 2130 cm − 1 . the integration of the si — h peak area ( shown below in graph 3 ) indicated the reaction of the si — h linkage during the process . concurrent with the decrease of si — h linkages , there was an increase in the absorption at about 1050 cm − 1 , indicating formation of si — o bonding . the presence of the absorption at 1357 , 1048 , and 765 cm − 1 demonstrates the preservation and maintenance of the si — c structure in the backbone of the polymer during the process . the information obtained from infrared spectra suggests that the film after cure at 400 c . has retained the bonding of si — c , si — h , si — o , and c — h linkages . the refractive index was measured on a woolam ellipsometer . the film after cure at 400 c . showed film thickness of 6425 a and refractive index of 1 . 468 at 633 nm . the dielectric constant was measured by the standard cv curve technique , using mos capacitor structure . the dielectric constant of the prepared films was 2 . 6 . 2 grams of hydridopolycarbosilane ( hpcs ), [ sih 2 ch 2 ] n , purchased from starfire systems , inc . was dissolved in 4 grams of anhydrous dibutyl ether . the solution was then filtered through a 0 . 2 micron filter . about 2 ml of this solution was dispensed onto the surface of a 4 ″ wafer and then the wafer was spun at 2500 rpm for 30 seconds . as in the earlier examples , the coated wafer was heated sequentially at 80 c ., 150 c ., and 220 c . for three minutes , each step carried out under atmosphere ( air ) conditions . then the film was cured in a furnace at 400 c . for 60 minutes under a nitrogen blanket environment . ir spectra were obtained for the films as - spun and after each process step . the assignment of the infrared absorption of this material is shown in table 3 . the structural change of the spun film during the sequential heating and cure can be monitored by following the ft - ir of the film after each process step . one obvious change during the sequential elevated heating of the film is the decrease intensity of si — h absorption at about 2143 cm − 1 . as demonstrated below in graph 3 and table 4 , the integration of the si — h peak area indicated the reaction of si — h during the process . concurrent with the decrease of si — h , there was an increase in the absorption at about 1050 cm − 1 , indicating formation of si — o bonding . the presence of the absorption at 1358 , 1048 , and 763 cm − 1 indicated the preservation of si — c structure in the process . the information obtained from infrared spectra suggests that the film , after curing at 400 ° c ., has the bonding linkages of si — c , si — h , si — o , and c — h . the refractive index was measured on a woolam ellipsometer . the film after cure at 400 ° c . demonstrated a film thickness of 3752 a and refractive index of 1 . 536 at 633 nm . 2 grams of allylhydridopolycarbosilane ( ahpcs ) purchased from starfire systems , inc . was dissolved in 4 grams of anhydrous dibutyl ether . the solution was then filtered through a 0 . 2 micron filter . about 2 ml of this solution was dispensed onto the surface of a 4 ″ wafer and then the wafer was spun at 2000 rpm for 30 seconds . the coated wafer was heated sequentially at 80 c ., 150 c ., and 250 c . for three minutes each under atmospheric ( air ) conditions . then the film was cured in a furnace at 400 ° c . for 30 minutes under a nitrogen blanket environment . the refractive index was measured on a woolam ellipsometer . the film after cure at 400 c . showed film thickness of 5466 a and refractive index of 1 . 479 at 633 nm . the dielectric constant was measured by the standard cv curve technique , using mos capacitor structure . the dielectric constant of the prepared films was 2 . 4 . the peak area for cured films : si — h : 7 . 09 , c — h 1 . 53 . 2 grams of allylhydridopolycarbosilane ( ahpcs ) purchased from starfire systems , inc . was dissolved in 4 grams of anhydrous dibutyl ether . the solution was then filtered through a 0 . 2 micron filter . about 2 ml of this solution was dispensed onto the surface of a 4 ″ wafer and then the wafer was spun at 2000 rpm for 30 seconds . the coated wafer was heated sequentially at 80 c ., 150 c ., and 300 c . for three minutes each under atmospheric ( air ) conditions . then the film was cured in a furnace at 400 ° c . for 30 minutes under nitrogen environment . the refractive index was measured on a woolam ellipsometer . the film after cure at 400 c . showed film thickness of 5549 a and refractive index of 1 . 469 at 633 nm . the dielectric constant was measured by the standard cv curve technique , using mos capacitor structure . the dielectric constant of the prepared films was 3 . 5 . the peak area for cured films : si — h : 2 . 72 , c — h 1 . 45 . 2 grams of allylhydridopolycarbosilane ( ahpcs ) purchased from starfire systems , inc . was dissolved in 4 grams of anhydrous dibutyl ether . the solution was then filtered through a 0 . 2 micron filter . about 2 ml of this solution was dispensed onto the surface of 4 ″ wafer and then the wafer was spun at 2000 rpm for 30 seconds . the coated wafer was heated sequentially at 80 c ., 150 c ., and 320 c . for three minutes each under atmospheric ( air ) conditions . then the film was cured in a furnace at 400 c . for 30 minutes under nitrogen environment . the refractive index was measured on a woolam ellipsometer . the film after cure at 400 c . showed film thickness of 5777 a and refractive index of 1 . 4576 at 633 nm . the dielectric constant was measured by the standard cv curve technique , using mos capacitor structure . the dielectric constant of the prepared films was 3 . 8 . the peak area for cured films : si — h : 1 . 88 , c — h 1 . 25 . a comparison of examples 4 , 5 , and 6 with the earlier examples demonstrates a direct correlation of the heating process to the ultimate polycarbosilane generated polyorganosilicon product generated in terms of the extent of oxidation ( si — h and si — c bond retention ), and dielectric constant of the resulting films . this correlation can be observed from the following table 6 and the ir spectra of graph 4 . as the final bake temperature ( in air ) is raised , the si — h peak area decreases and the dielectric constant ( k ) of the resulting films increased . this dramatically demonstrates that by controlling and changing the heating process temperature or atmospheric conditions , the structure and composition of the processed film can be predictably tuned to produce a film with certain desired properties . the rise of the dielectric constant ( k ) is directly attributable to the decrease of si — h and si — c content and the increase of si — o in the film . as the si — o content increases in the film , the film can be expected to behave more like sio 2 film and the dielectric constant k will also be closer to that of sio 2 ( k of sio 2 is 3 . 9 ). as indicated above , among the instant multi - heating steps at sequentially elevated temperatures , that heating step taking place at temperature of from 200 ° c . to 300 ° c . is critical to achievement of low k dielectric film coatings . the preferred range for this treatment step is from about 240 ° c . to 260 ° c . to achieve optimal dielectric film coatings having a dielectric constant k of less than 3 . an isothermal heat treatment plateau of 250 ° c . will yield a low k polycarbosilane film of about 2 . 5 . the examples all clearly demonstrate that the present multistep heat treatment of polycarbosilanes disclosed herein generates a low k dielectric polyorganosilicon film coating of unexpectedly unique structural character . while foregoing is directed to the preferred embodiments of the present invention , other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basis scope thereof , and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow .