Vertical memory devices

1. A vertical memory device, comprising:

a substrate, an upper portion of the substrate including an impurity region doped with carbon or p-type impurities;

a gate electrode structure on the substrate, the gate electrode structure including gate electrodes spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction substantially perpendicular to an upper surface of the substrate; and

a channel extending through the gate electrode structure in the vertical direction on the substrate, the channel including a first portion and a second portion,

the first portion having a slanted sidewall with respect to the upper surface of the substrate,

the second portion contacting an upper surface of the first portion,

the second portion having a slanted sidewall with respect to the upper surface of the substrate,

a width of an upper surface of the second portion being less than a width of the upper surface of the first portion, and

the channel contacting the impurity region.

2. The vertical memory device of claim 1 , further comprising:

a charge storage structure covering an outer sidewall of the channel on the substrate, wherein

the charge storage structure includes a first part and a second part,

the first part has a slanted sidewall with respect to the upper surface of the substrate, and

the second part contacts an upper surface of the first part,

the second part has a slanted sidewall with respect to the upper surface of the substrate, and

a width of an upper surface of the second part is less than a width of the upper surface of the first part.

3. The vertical memory device of claim 2 , wherein

a central lower portion of the first portion of the channel extends through an upper portion of the impurity region, and

a lower portion of the first part of the charge storage structure covers an outer sidewall of the central lower portion of the first portion of the channel that contacts the upper surface of the impurity region.

4. The vertical memory device of claim 2 , wherein

the charge storage structure includes a tunnel barrier pattern, a charge storage pattern, and a blocking pattern sequentially stacked from the outer sidewall of the channel in a horizontal direction substantially parallel to the upper surface of the substrate.

5. The vertical memory device of claim 2 , further comprising:

a filling pattern; and

a pad on the filling pattern, the channel, and the charge storage structure, wherein

the channel has a hollow cylindrical shape, and

the filling pattern filling an inner space defined by an inner sidewall of the channel.

6. The vertical memory device of claim 5 , wherein the pad directly contacts an upper surface of the filling pattern, an upper surface of the channel, and an upper surface of the charge storage structure.

7. The vertical memory device of claim 5 , wherein the gate electrode structure includes at least one first gate electrode, a plurality of second gate electrodes over the at least one first gate electrode, and at least one third gate electrode over the plurality of second gate electrodes.

8. The vertical memory device of claim 7 , wherein

the at least one first gate electrode includes two first gate electrodes disposed at two levels, respectively, from the upper surface of the substrate,

each of the two first gate electrodes overlap the first portion of the channel in a horizontal direction substantially parallel to the upper surface of the substrate, and

a maximum width of the charge storage structure corresponding to an upper surface of one of the two first gate electrodes at an upper level is equal to or less than a width of an upper surface of the pad.

9. The vertical memory device of claim 7 , wherein

the at least one first gate electrode serves as a GSL,

the plurality of second gate electrodes serve as word lines, and

the at least one third gate electrode serves as an SSL.

10. The vertical memory device of claim 5 , wherein

the gate electrodes structure includes a first gate electrode, a plurality of second gate electrodes over the first gate electrode, and at least one third gate electrode over the plurality of second gate electrodes,

the first gate electrode and a lowermost one of the plurality of second gate electrodes are disposed at two levels, respectively, from the upper surface of the substrate,

each of the first gate electrode and the lowermost one of the plurality of second gate electrodes overlap the first portion of the channel in a horizontal direction substantially parallel to the upper surface of the substrate, and

a maximum width of the charge storage structure corresponding to an upper surface of the lowermost one of the second gate electrodes is equal to or less than a width of an upper surface of the pad.

11. The vertical memory device of claim 1 , wherein

the channel further includes a third portion and a fourth portion,

the third portion contacts an upper surface of the second portion of the channel,

the third portion has a slanted sidewall with respect to the upper surface of the substrate,

the fourth portion contacts an upper surface of the third portion,

the fourth portion has a slanted sidewall with respect to the upper surface of the substrate, and

a width of an upper surface of the fourth portion is less than a width of an upper surface of the third portion.

12. The vertical memory device of claim 11 , wherein a width of the upper surface of the third portion of the channel is greater than the width of the upper surface of the second portion of the channel.

13. The vertical memory device of claim 11 , wherein

the gate electrode structure includes two first gate electrodes, a plurality of second gate electrodes over the two first gate electrodes, and two third gate electrodes over the plurality of second gate electrodes,

the two first gate electrodes are disposed at two levels, respectively, from the upper surface of the substrate,

each of the two first gate electrodes overlap the first portion of the channel in a horizontal direction substantially parallel to the upper surface of the substrate,

the plurality of second gate electrodes are disposed at a plurality of levels over the upper surface of the substrate,

the plurality of second gate electrodes overlap the second portion of the channel to the fourth portion of the channel in the horizontal direction,

the two third gate electrodes are disposed at two levels, respectively, from the upper surface of the substrate, and

each of the two third gate electrodes overlap the fourth portion of the channel in the horizontal direction.

14. The vertical memory device of claim 13 , wherein

at least one of the two first gate electrodes serves as a GSL,

the plurality of second gate electrodes serve as word lines, and

at least one of the two third gate electrodes serves as an SSL.

15. A vertical memory device, comprising:

a substrate including an impurity region doped with carbon or p-type impurities;

a channel structure on the substrate,

the channel structure including a lower channel on an upper surface of the impurity region of the substrate and an upper channel contacting an upper surface of the lower channel,

the lower channel having a slanted sidewall with respect to an upper surface of the substrate,

the lower channel having a pillar shape,

the upper channel having a slanted sidewall with respect to the upper surface of the substrate, and

the upper channel having a hollow cylindrical shape;

a charge storage structure covering an outer sidewall of the upper channel, a width of an upper surface of the charge storage structure being less than a maximum width of the lower channel; and

a gate electrode structure on the substrate,

the gate electrode structure including gate electrodes spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction substantially perpendicular to the upper surface of the substrate, each of the gate electrodes covering an outer sidewall of the channel structure or the charge storage structure.

16. The vertical memory device of claim 15 , further comprising:

a plurality of channel structures on the substrate, wherein

the plurality of channel structures include the channel structure, and

the upper channels of at least two of the plurality of channel structures have lower surfaces at different heights from each other.

17. The vertical memory device of claim 16 , wherein upper surfaces of the lower channels included in the plurality of channel structures are substantially coplanar with each other.

18. The vertical memory device of claim 16 , further comprising:

a filling pattern filling a space defined by an inner sidewall of the upper channel; and

a pad on the filling pattern, the upper channel, and the charge storage structure, wherein

the gate electrode structure includes at least one first gate electrode, a plurality of second gate electrodes over the first gate electrode, and at least one third gate electrode over the plurality of second gate electrodes,

the at least one first gate electrode serves as a GSL,

the plurality of second gate electrodes serve as word lines, and

the at least one third gate electrode serves as an SSL.

19. The vertical memory device of claim 18 , wherein

the at least one first gate electrode includes two first gate electrodes disposed at two levels, respectively, from the upper surface of the substrate,

each of the two first gate electrodes overlap the lower channel in a horizontal direction substantially parallel to the upper surface of the substrate, and

a width of the lower channel corresponding to an upper surface of one of the two first gate electrodes at an upper level is equal to or less than a width of an upper surface of the pad.

20. A vertical memory device, comprising:

a substrate including an impurity region at an upper portion of the substrate;

a gate electrode structure on the substrate, the gate electrode structure including gate electrodes spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction substantially perpendicular to an upper surface of the substrate; and

a channel on the substrate,

the channel extending in the vertical direction on the substrate through the gate electrode structure and an upper portion of the impurity region of the substrate,

the channel including a plurality of portions sequentially stacked in the vertical direction and connected with each other,

each of the plurality of portions having a slanted sidewall with respect to the upper surface of the substrate,

a width of an upper surface of a first portion among the plurality of portions of the channel disposed at an odd-numbered level from the upper surface of the substrate is greater than a width of an upper surface of a second portion among the plurality of portions of the channel directly above the first portion.