Patent ID: 8045383

Claim:
A non-volatile memory device comprising: a semiconductor substrate including an active region at a surface thereof; a ground select line crossing the active region; a string select line crossing the active region and spaced apart from the ground select line; a plurality of memory cell word lines crossing the active region between the ground select line and the string select line wherein about a same first spacing is provided between adjacent ones of the plurality of word lines, wherein a second spacing is provided between a last of the plurality of memory cell word lines and the string select line, and wherein the second spacing is greater than the first spacing and no greater than two times the first spacing; and a dummy word line between a first of the plurality of memory cell word lines and the ground select line wherein about the first spacing is provided between the dummy word line and the first of the plurality of memory cell word lines, wherein a third spacing is provided between the ground select line and the dummy word line, wherein the third spacing is greater than the first spacing and no greater than two times the first spacing, and wherein the third spacing is in the range of 1.5 times the first spacing to about 2 times the first spacing.