Patent ID: 8101093

Claim:
A method of polishing a noble metal-containing substrate comprising the steps of: (a) providing a substrate, wherein the substrate comprises a noble metal selected from the group consisting of platinum, iridium, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, osmium, gold, and combinations thereof (b) providing a chemical-mechanical polishing composition comprising: (i) an abrasive comprising α-alumina, (ii) about 0.05 to about 50 mmol/kg of ions of at least one metal selected from the group consisting of calcium, strontium, barium, and mixtures thereof, based on the total weight of the polishing composition, and (iii) a liquid carrier comprising water, (c) applying the chemical-mechanical polishing composition to at least a portion of the substrate, and (d) abrading at least a portion of the noble metal of the substrate with the polishing composition to polish the substrate.