Patent ID: 7829464

Claim:
A method of planarizing a semiconductor device including a substrate and first and second components provided on the surface of the substrate, the method comprising: providing a gap filling material between and above the first and second components to cover upper surfaces of the first and second components, the first component having a height greater than a height of the second component with respect to the surface of the substrate; performing a first polishing operation, with an oxide-based slurry, on the semiconductor device to remove the gap filling material and expose a top surface of the first component and to remove a portion of the gap filling material above a top surface of the second component without exposing the top surface of the second component; selecting a polycrystalline silicon-based slurry based on a remaining amount of the top surfaces of the first and second components; and performing a second polishing operation, with the polycrystalline silicon-based slurry, on the semiconductor device to remove a remaining portion of the gap filling material and expose the top surface of the second component and to remove a portion of the top surface of the first component to level the top surface of the first component with respect to the top surface of the second component; where the oxide-based slurry is different than the polycrystalline silicon-based slurry.