Patent ID: 8778203

Claim:
A method for selectively removing a target material on a surface of a substrate, the method comprising the steps of: providing a substrate comprising a target material and a non-target material; dissolving oxygen in a polishing solution to achieve a pre-determined dissolved oxygen concentration, the polishing solution having a pH of from about 5 to about 11, wherein the polishing solution comprises a plurality of abrasive silica particles, at least some of said plurality of abrasive silica particles are functionalized with n-(trimethoxysilylpropyl)isothiouronium chloride; maintaining, by continuously applying substantially pure oxygen to said polishing solution, the pre-determined dissolved oxygen concentration of said polishing solution at or between approximately 8.6 mg/L and approximately 16.6 mg/L; disposing the polishing solution between a polishing pad and the surface; applying the polishing pad to the surface; and selectively removing a predetermined thickness of the target material; wherein varying the dissolved oxygen content of the polishing solution varies the removal ratio of target material to non-target material during the removal step.