A new slurry for shallow trench isolation (STI) processing in the chemical
mechanical planarization (CMP) in microelectronic industry comprising an
aqueous medium having an abrasive; and a compound which has a carboxylic
group and an electrophilic functional group. The combination of ceria
and/or titania with amino acids to obtain polishing selectivity's greater
than 5:1. CMP is used for removing the excess oxide and planarizing the
substrate and the trench. The silicon nitride acts as a stop layer,
preventing the polishing of underlying silicon substrate.