The present invention relates to a polishing agent including: a water-soluble polymer including a copolymer of a monomer (A) which includes at least one member selected from the group consisting of an unsaturated dicarboxylic acid, a derivative thereof, and salts of the unsaturated dicarboxylic acid and the derivative thereof and a monomer (B) other than the monomer (A), comprising an ethylenic double bond and no acidic group; a cerium oxide particle; and water, in which the polishing agent has a pH of 4 to 9.

Smoothness of glass is improved. A polishing slurry (A) contains amorphous carbon and water, and a total amount of the amorphous carbon and the water is equal to or more than 90% of the whole polishing slurry in terms of mass ratio.

A polishing composition for use in polishing an object to be polished, which comprises abrasive grains, a dispersing medium, and an additive, wherein the abrasive grains are surface-modified, the additive is represented by the following formula 1: ##STR00001##
wherein in the formula 1, X.sub.1 is O or NR.sub.4, X.sub.2 is a single bond or NR.sub.5, R.sub.1 to R.sub.5 are each independently a hydrogen atom; a hydroxy group; a nitro group; a nitroso group; a C.sub.1-4 alkyl group optionally substituted with a carboxyl group, an amino group, or a hydroxy group; or CONH.sub.2; with the proviso that R.sub.2 and R.sub.5 may form a ring; when X.sub.2 is a single bond, R.sub.3 is not a hydrogen atom, or R.sub.1 to R.sub.3 are not a methyl group; and when X.sub.2 is NR.sub.5 and three of R.sub.1 to R.sub.3 and R.sub.5 are a hydrogen atom, the other one is not a hydrogen atom or a methyl group; and a pH is 5.0 or less. According to the present invention, a polishing composition capable of polishing not only polycrystalline silicon but also a silicon nitride film at high speed and also suppressing a polishing speed of a silicon oxide film is provided.

Provided is a polishing composition which contains a water-soluble polymer and is suitable for reducing LPDs. The polishing composition provided in this application includes an abrasive, a water-soluble polymer, and a basic compound. In the polishing composition, the content of a reaction product of a polymerization initiator and a polymerization inhibitor is 0.1 ppb or less of the polishing composition on a weight basis.

Provided are a polishing composition capable of effectively reducing or eliminating a step difference on a surface of an object to be polished consisting of a single material, a method of using such a polishing composition, and a method of producing a substrate. The polishing composition of the present invention contains an abrasive grain, a pH adjusting agent, a dispersing medium, and at least one kind of first water-soluble polymer having a lactam structure and at least one kind of second water-soluble polymer containing an alkylene oxide represented by the following Formula (I) in the structure,
C.sub.xH.sub.2xO.sub.n  (I) (in the Formula (I), X is an integer of 3 or more and n is an integer of 2 or more.).

There are provided a polishing composition capable of improving the polishing removal rate of a TEOS film, a method for manufacturing the polishing composition, and a polishing method.

A polishing composition contains cationized colloidal silica chemically surface-modified with an amino silane coupling agent and an anionic surfactant, in which the pH value is larger than 3 and smaller than 6.

Methods for polishing dielectric layers using an auto-stop slurry in forming semiconductor devices, such as three-dimensional (3D) memory devices, are provided. For example, a stack structure is formed in a staircase region and a core array region. The stack structure includes a plurality of interleaved first material layers and second material layers. Edges of the interleaved first material layers and second material layers define a staircase structure on a side of the stack structure in the staircase region. A dielectric layer is formed over the staircase region and a peripheral region outside the stack structure. The dielectric layer includes a protrusion from the stack structure. The dielectric layer is polished using an auto-stop slurry to remove the protrusion of the dielectric layer.

A method of manufacturing a metal structure including forming a metal layer including a metal and a nano-abrasive and supplying slurry on the metal layer to perform chemical mechanical polishing, a metal structure including a metal and a nano-abrasive having an average particle diameter of less than about 5 nanometers, and a metal wire, a semiconductor device, and an electronic device including the same.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a polishing ring assembly suitable for polishing an electrostatic chuck and method of using the same. In one embodiment, the polishing ring assembly has a retaining ring assembly and an electrostatic chuck fixture. The retaining ring assembly includes an inner diameter and a top surface, a plurality of outer drive rings wherein the plurality of outer drive rings are placed on the top surface of the ceramic retaining ring. The electrostatic chuck fixture includes an electrostatic chuck drive plate adjacent to the inner diameter of in the ceramic retaining ring. The electrostatic chuck drive plate has a lock to secure retaining ring assembly with the electrostatic chuck fixture without transferring the weight from one assembly over to the other through the locking mechanism.

A composition is provided that comprises a calcium carbonate slurry. The calcium carbonate slurry comprises a plurality of calcium carbonate particles suspended in a solution, where the solution comprises a dispersant and an anionic surfactant. The concentration of the calcium carbonate particles in the calcium carbonate slurry is equal to or less than about 2.0 wt. %.