Currently, the most common semiconductor dielectric is silicon dioxide (SiO2), which has a dielectric constant of about 4.0. There is a substantial interest in materials with low dielectric constants that can replace SiO2-based insulators as inter layer dielectrics (ILD). This invention is directed to a new process for the preparation of low dielectric constant films. The sol-gel process employs a hyperbranched polycarbosilane precursor that is applied to a substrate by spin coating.