Fabrication of low dielectric constant insulating film

A plasma processing system comprising:

• a reaction vessel;
• a pedestal arranged on the reaction vessel to place a substrate thereon;
• a heater adapted to heat the substrate placed on the pedestal;
• a microwave supplying apparatus that supplies a microwave into the reaction vessel;
• a gas supplying apparatus that supplies hydrogen gas and argon gas into the reaction vessel;
• an exhaust apparatus that evacuates the reaction vessel to regulate pressure in the reaction vessel;
• and
• a controller that controls the gas supplying apparatus to supply hydrogen gas and argon gas into the reaction vessel while an argon/hydrogen ratio is set in a range of 1000/100 to 100/1000 when the substrate on which an insulating film formed of a silicon alkoxide series material containing CH3—Si—O bonds is placed on the pedestal, and controls the microwave supplying apparatus to supply the microwave into the reaction vessel to generate a plasma containing hydrogen radicals to increase an interatomic distance of Si—O bonds in the CH3—Si—O bonds and to lower a dielectric constant of the insulating film.

A storage medium storing a software executable by a control computer of a plasma processing system, wherein, upon execution of the software, the control computer controls the plasma processing system to make the system perform a plasma processing method that reduces a dielectric constant of an insulating film formed on a substrate, said plasma processing method including:

• placing the substrate in a reaction vessel;
• supplying a process gas containing hydrogen atoms into the reaction vessel and supplying a microwave into the reaction vessel, thereby generating a plasma containing hydrogen radicals;
• and
• modifying a structure of the insulating film deposited on the substrate by means of the hydrogen radicals contained in the plasma, thereby increasing an interatomic distance of Si—O bonds in the CH3—Si—O bonds and lowering the dielectric constant of the insulating film, wherein
• the substrate on which the insulating film is formed of a silicon alkoxide series material containing CH3—Si—O bonds is deposited by a chemical vapor deposition process, and
• the process gas supplied into the reaction vessel in the supplying step has an argon/hydrogen ratio of 1000/100 to 100/1000.