In microelectronics industry, integration of the low dielectric constant (low-k) material films is a continuing issue due to the decreasing device feature size. To improve electric properties, various post-deposition treatments of the low-k material films can be used. In this work, we used room temperature treatment of He/H-2 plasma and investigated the effects of plasma treatment on the electrical properties of low-k SiOCH films. Plasma treatment time changed from 300 to 1800 s. After treatment, the dielectric constant was decreased from 2.9 to 2.48, and the thickness of the low-k SiCOH films changed by only similar to 5%. The leakage current densities of the low-k SiCOH films were decreased to similar to 10(-11) A/cm(2), with treatment time >= 600 s. The breakdown occurred only around 2 V for films plasma-treated for 600 and 900 s. However, for 1800 s treatment time, the breakdown voltage was enhanced dramatically and breakdown occurred at applied voltage higher than 40 V. The surface composition change of the films after treatment was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). As the plasma treatment time was increased, the intensities of C-C/C-H and C-Si peaks were decreased while the intensities of Si-O and C-O peaks were increased. It is thought that increase of oxygen content of the SiCOH film, after plasma treatment, contributed to leakage current reduction and breakdown voltage increase. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.