Mechanical and tribological properties of various doped and undoped oxide low-k materials like undoped (SiO2), carbon-doped (SiOC), and fluorine-doped (SiOF) oxides are investigated by studying the removal rates at different pressure and velocity conditions. In addition to verifying the Preston equation, a comprehensive physics and statistics based model called the abrasion model is modified and validated based on experimental data. The model is derived on the basis that the material removal rate (MRR) is equal to the material removed by a single abrasive and the number of active abrasives involved in material removal. Apart from the primary factors like pressure and velocity, details like pad hardness, pad roughness, abrasive size, and abrasive size distributions are also included in the model. It is found that with the increase in pressure, MRR increases due to increase in the number of active abrasives. The model is validated by comparing the results with experimental results. The planarization of the research specimens has been carried out on a prototype of an actual CMP machine called the Universal Bench Top CMP tester. (C) 2004 The Electrochemical Society.