Patent ID: 8247327

Claim:
A chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) method for polishing a silicon-containing substrate, the method comprising the steps of: (a) contacting a surface of a silicon-containing substrate with a polishing pad and a CMP composition comprising; (i) an aqueous carrier, (ii) a ceria abrasive, (iii) a polishing additive bearing a functional group having a pKa of about 4 to about 9, and (iv) a non ionic surfactant comprising a hydrophilic portion and a lipophilic portion wherein the hydrophilic portion has a number average molecular weight of about 500 g/mol or higher; and wherein the CMP composition has a pH of 7 or less; (b) causing relative motion between the polishing pad and the substrate while maintaining a portion of the CMP composition in contact with the substrate to abrade at least a portion of the surface of the substrate, thereby polishing the substrate.