Patent attributes
A memory device includes a memory cell block including a plurality of memory cells. The memory device also includes peripheral circuits configured to perform an erase operation by a gate induce drain leakage (GIDL) method by applying a first erase voltage and a second erase voltage to a source line of the memory cell block. The memory device further includes control logic configured to control the peripheral circuits to sequentially perform an operation of applying the first erase voltage and an operation of applying the second erase voltage during the erase operation, wherein memory cells having a plurality of program states, among the plurality of memory cells, are erased to have a pre-erase state during the operation of applying the first erase voltage.