Methods of forming apparatuses including air gaps between conductive lines and related apparatuses, memory devices, and electronic systems

An apparatus, comprising:

• pillar structures extending vertically through an isolation material;
• conductive plug structures within upper portions of the pillar structures;
• conductive lines operatively coupled to the pillar structures;
• dielectric structures overlying the conductive lines;
• and
• air gaps between laterally neighboring conductive lines, the air gaps vertically aligned with a portion of the conductive plug structures and laterally adjacent to the conductive lines, with an upper portion of the air gaps extending laterally adjacent to the dielectric structures and a lower portion of the air gaps extending laterally adjacent to segments of the isolation material.

A method of forming a memory device, comprising:

• forming pillar structures in openings vertically extending through a stack of alternating conductive materials and dielectric materials;
• forming at least one staircase structure comprising materials of the stack of alternating conductive materials and dielectric materials, the at least one staircase structure laterally adjacent to the pillar structures;
• forming contact structures over the pillar structures;
• forming a substantially continuous portion of a conductive material over the contact structures;
• forming an electrically insulative material over at least portions of the stack;
• forming additional openings vertically extending at least partially through the stack by removing portions of the substantially continuous portion of the conductive material to form conductive lines;
• and
• forming a dielectric material adjacent to the electrically insulative material to form air gaps within the additional openings, the air gaps intervening between laterally neighboring conductive lines and in vertical alignment with a portion of the contact structures, and the air gaps between portions of the electrically insulative material overlying the conductive lines.

A memory device, comprising:

• at least one array of memory cells comprising:
• access lines extending in a first horizontal direction;
• data lines extending in a second horizontal direction, substantially transverse to the first horizontal direction;
• interconnect structures operatively connected to the data lines;
• contact structures adjacent the interconnect structures on a side thereof opposite the data lines;
• dielectric structures adjacent the data lines on a side thereof opposite the interconnect structures;
• and
• air gaps extending vertically between laterally neighboring dielectric structures, data lines, and interconnect structures, the air gaps vertically aligned with a portion of the contact structures, wherein a width of the data lines in the first horizontal direction is relatively less than a width of the air gaps in the first horizontal direction.

An electronic system, comprising:

• at least one input device;
• at least one output device;
• at least one processor device operatively coupled to the at least one input device and the at least one output device;
• and
• a memory device operatively coupled to the at least one processor device, the memory device comprising:
• conductive lines extending in a horizontal direction;
• interconnect structures underlying the conductive lines;
• contact structures underlying the interconnect structures;
• and
• air gaps separating horizontally neighboring conductive lines and in direct vertical alignment with at least a portion of the contact structures, wherein a ratio of a width of the conductive lines to a width of the air gaps is less than 1.