AQUEOUS POLISHING COMPOSITION AND PROCESS FOR CHEMICALLY MECHANICALLY POLISHING SUBSTRATE MATERIALS FOR ELECTRICAL, MECHANICAL AND OPTICAL DEVICES

An aqueous polishing composition comprising (A) abrasive particles which are positively charged when dispersed in an aqueous medium having a pH in the range of from 3 to 9 as evidenced by the electrophoretic mobility; (B) water-soluble and water-dispersible hydroxy group containing components selected from (b1) aliphatic and cycloaliphatic hydroxycarboxylic acids, wherein the molar ratio of hydroxy groups to carboxylic acid groups is at least 1; (b2) esters and lactones of the hydroxycarboxylic acids (b1) having at least one hydroxy group; and (b3) mixtures thereof; and (C) water-soluble and water-dispersible polymer components selected from (c1) linear and branched alkylene oxide polymers; (c2) linear and branched, aliphatic and cycloaliphatic poly(N-vinylamide) polymers; and (c3) cationic polymeric flocculents having a weight average molecular weight of less than 100,000 Dalton.; and a process for polishing substrate materials for electrical, mechanical and optical devices.