Methods of fabricating semiconductor devices using mask shrinking

1. A method of fabricating a semiconductor device, the method comprising:

forming a mold layer on a substrate;

forming a mask layer on the mold layer;

etching the mold layer using the mask layer as an etch mask to form a channel hole penetrating the mold layer;

shrinking the mask layer to provide a reduced mask layer;

forming a spacer layer to cover the reduced mask layer; and

forming a vertical channel to fill the channel hole and be electrically connected to the substrate.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming of the mask layer comprises:

sequentially forming a lower mask layer including a silicon layer, an intermediate mask layer including an oxide or nitride layer, and an upper mask layer including a carbon layer, on the mold layer; and

patterning the upper, intermediate, and lower mask layers to expose a portion of the mold layer.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the shrinking of the mask layer comprises:

removing the upper mask layer; and

etching a side surface of the lower mask layer,

wherein the intermediate mask layer covers a top surface of the lower mask layer such that the top surface of the lower mask layer is prevented from being etched.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising removing the intermediate mask layer after the etching of the side surface of the lower mask layer.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming of the mask layer comprises:

sequentially forming a lower mask layer including a silicon layer and an upper mask layer including a carbon layer, on the mold layer; and

patterning the upper and lower mask layers to expose a portion of the mold layer.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the shrinking of the mask layer comprises:

removing the upper mask layer; and

etching side and top surfaces of the lower mask layer.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the forming of the vertical channel comprises:

filling a portion of the channel hole to form a lower channel connected to the substrate; and

filling another portion of the channel hole to form an upper channel connected to the lower channel.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the lower channel is formed by growing a single crystalline silicon layer from the substrate exposed by the channel hole, and the upper channel is formed by depositing a single crystalline silicon layer or a polysilicon layer.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising forming a memory layer on an inner wall of the channel hole before the forming of the upper channel, wherein the memory layer extends along the inner wall of the channel hole.

10. A method of fabricating a semiconductor device, the method comprising:

forming a mold stack including insulating layers and sacrificial layers alternatingly stacked on a substrate;

forming a mask layer on the mold stack;

etching the mold stack using the mask layer as an etch mask to form a channel hole exposing the substrate through the mold layer;

shrinking the mask layer to provide a reduced mask layer;

forming a spacer layer to wrap the reduced mask layer; and

forming a vertical channel including a lower channel and an upper channel, the lower channel being grown from the substrate exposed by the channel hole and being electrically connected to the substrate, and the upper channel being stacked on the lower channel and being electrically connected to the lower channel; and

replacing the sacrificial layers with gates.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the mask layer comprises a silicon layer and an oxide layer sequentially stacked on the mold stack, and

the shrinking of the mask layer comprises selectively etching a side surface of the silicon layer with plasma including at least one of Cl 2 and SF 6 ,

wherein the oxide layer is formed to prevent the plasma from being supplied onto a top surface of the silicon layer such that the top surface of the silicon layer is prevented from being etched.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the mask layer comprises a silicon layer stacked on the mold stack, and the shrinking of the mask layer comprises selectively etching side and top surfaces of the silicon layer with plasma including at least one of Cl 2 and SF 6 .

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the spacer layer extends into the channel hole to cover an upper side surface of the mold stack.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the replacing of the sacrificial layers with the gates comprises:

forming a trench between the vertical channels to expose the substrate through the mold stack;

supplying an etchant through the trench to selectively remove the sacrificial layers; and

forming the gates extending along a first horizontal direction on the substrate, the gates being formed by filling empty spaces, which are provided between the insulating layers by the removing of the sacrificial layers, with a conductive material.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising forming a bit line electrically connected to the vertical channel, the bit line extending along a second horizontal direction crossing the first horizontal direction.