Patent ID: 6953532

Claim:
A method of polishing a substrate, said method comprising the steps of: (i) providing a polishing system comprising: (a) an abrasive, a polishing pad, or a combination thereof, (b) an acid, and (c) a liquid carrier, (ii) providing a substrate comprising a metal oxide layer, wherein the metal oxide layer comprises at least one lanthanide series element and is selected from: (a) ceria further comprising a dopant, (b) a lanthanide oxide selected from Y 2 O 3 , La 2 O 3 , Nd 2 O 3 , Sm 2 O 3 , Eu 2 O 3 , Gd 2 O 3 , Dy 2 O 3 , Ho 2 O 3 , Er 2 O 3 , Tm 2 O 3 , Yb 2 O 3 , Lu 2 O 3 , Pr 6 O 11 , or Tb 4 O 7 , (c) a metal oxide of the formula LnMO 3 , wherein Ln is Y, La, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, or Lu, and M is Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, or Al, (d) zirconia further comprising a lanthanide metal dopant, or (e) a metal oxide as in (b) or (c) further comprising a dopant, and (iii) abrading at least a portion of the metal oxide layer with the polishing system to polish the substrate.