Method of polishing a substrate

A chemical mechanical planarization method comprising:

• providing a chemical mechanical polishing pad comprising,
• a permeable substrate having a thickness of 2-100 mils;
• and
• a polishing layer comprising a polymeric matrix having microspheres dispersed therein, wherein the polymeric matrix is formed of a water-based polymer blend, wherein the polishing layer is applied on the permeable substrate, wherein the polymeric matrix comprises a blend of 3:1 to 1:3 (by weight) of an aqueous urethane dispersion and an acrylic dispersion, wherein the microspheres are gas filled, wherein the polymeric matrix contains at least 0.3 volume percent microspheres, wherein the microspheres have a weight average diameter of 10-100 μm, wherein the polishing layer has grooves formed therein;
• and, wherein the chemical mechanical polishing pad exhibits improved defectivity, where the chemical mechanical polishing pad creates less than 300 total defects on the surface of a copper sheet wafer when the chemical mechanical polishing pad is used to polish the copper sheet wafer on a polishing machine, under downforce conditions of 1.5 psi, a polishing solution flow rate of 150 cc/min, a platen speed of 120 RPM and a carrier speed of 114 RPM to polish copper sheet wafers.