Abstract: Chemical mechanical polishing process for a layer of semiconductor material such as polycrystalline silicon, epitaxial single-crystal silicon, amorphous silicon or an isolating material such as phosphosilicate glass or borophosphosilicate glass used in the microelectronics semiconductors industry, with the exception of the initial silicon used in the manufacture of wafers for integrated circuits, in which an abrasion of the layer of semiconductor material or isolating material is carried out by rubbing the said layer with a fabric impregnated with an abrasive composition, the abrasive consisting of an aqueous suspension having a neutral pH or a pH close to neutrality of individualised colloidal silica particles, not linked together by siloxane bonds, and water as the suspension medium.