The integration of an advanced inhibitor, potassium sorbate (K[CH3(CH)(4)CO2]), in a copper CMP slurry based on hydrogen peroxide and glycine is reported. The first part of the study discusses the slurry chemistry by qualitatively describing the processes involved and proposes a mechanism for a hydrogen peroxide-glycine based slurry having sorbate anion as an inhibitor. For this purpose, the specific role of each chemical constituent in the slurry was elucidated at a fundamental level by electrochemical studies. X-ray photon spectroscopy (XPS) and contact angle measurements, all linked to the CMP performance on blanket wafers. Once the polishing mechanism was resolved the influence of the inhibitor was evaluated by CMP processing of patterned wafers. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.