Polishing agent, polishing method, and liquid additive for polishing

1. A polishing agent comprising:

cerium oxide particles;

an organic acid;

a nonionic polymer; and

water;

wherein:

the polishing agent optionally comprises an inorganic acid or a salt of the inorganic acid, and when the polishing agent comprises the inorganic acid or a salt of the inorganic acid, the inorganic acid is at least one selected from the group consisting of: nitric acid, sulfuric acid, and hydrochloric acid;

the polishing agent has a pH of from 3.0 to 7.0;

the organic acid consists of:

at least one selected from the group consisting of 2-hydroxyisobutyric acid, 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)propionic acid, and 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)butyric acid;

optionally, a monocarboxylic acid having a heterocycle;

optionally, a monocarboxylic acid having an amino group;

optionally, a monocarboxylic acid having 4 or more carbon atoms and having a hydroxyl group other than 2-hydroxyisobutyric acid, 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)propionic acid, or 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)butyric acid; and

optionally, a monocarboxylic acid having an amino group; and

the nonionic polymer comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of polyglycerin, polyoxyethylene polyglyceryl ether, and polyoxypropylene polyglyceryl ether.

2. The polishing agent according to claim 1 , wherein the monocarboxylic acid is contained in an amount of from 0.003 to 1.0 mass % based on a total mass of the polishing agent.

3. The polishing agent according to claim 1 , wherein the nonionic polymer is contained in an amount of from 0.0002 to 2.0 mass % based on a total mass of the polishing agent.

4. The polishing agent according to claim 1 , wherein the cerium oxide particles have an average secondary particle size of from 10 nm to 500 nm.

5. The polishing agent according to claim 1 , wherein the cerium oxide particles are contained in an amount of from 0.01 to 10.0 mass % based on a total mass of the polishing agent.

6. A polishing method comprising bringing a polishing pad into contact with a surface to be polished while supplying a polishing agent to perform polishing by relative movement therebetween,

wherein the surface to be polished including a surface comprising silicon oxide of a semiconductor substrate is polished using the polishing agent according to claim 1 as the polishing agent.

7. The polishing agent according to claim 1 , wherein the organic acid comprises the monocarboxylic acid having a heterocycle, and the heterocycle comprises nitrogen.

8. The polishing agent according to claim 1 , wherein the organic acid comprises the monocarboxylic acid having a heterocycle, and the heterocycle comprises a heteroatom other than nitrogen.

9. The polishing agent according to claim 1 , wherein the organic acid comprises the monocarboxylic acid having a heterocycle, and the monocarboxylic acid having a heterocycle is tetrahydrofuran-2-carboxylic acid.

10. The polishing agent according to claim 1 , wherein the organic acid comprises the monocarboxylic acid having 4 to 10 carbon atoms and having a hydroxyl group other than 2 -hydroxyisobutyric acid, 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)propionic acid, or 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)butyric acid.

11. The polishing agent according to claim 1 , wherein the nonionic polymer comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of polyglycerin and polyoxyethylene polyglyceryl ether.

12. The polishing agent according to claim 1 , wherein the nonionic polymer has a weight average molecular weight of 300 to 10,000.

13. The polishing agent according to claim 1 , wherein the nonionic polymer has a weight average molecular weight of 300 to 1,000.

14. A shallow trench isolation process, comprising applying the polishing agent of claim 1 to a surface comprising silicon oxide during chemical mechanical polishing.

15. The polishing agent according to claim 1 , wherein the organic acid comprises the monocarboxylic acid having an amino group, and the monocarboxylic acid having an amino group is N-acetylglycine.