Patent ID: 9099202
Filing Date: 2015-08-04
Classification: G11C,H01L

Abstract:
1. A method of operating 3D stacked non-volatile storage comprising a plurality of word lines comprising conductive material that is oriented horizontally, the conductive material alternates with dielectric material in a stack, and a plurality of NAND strings that are oriented vertically, the method comprising: erasing a group of non-volatile storage elements associated with a set of NAND strings of the plurality of NAND strings to an erase threshold voltage distribution above zero volts; and programming selected non-volatile storage elements in the group by reducing the threshold voltage of the selected non-volatile storage elements, including establishing a programming voltage in channels associated with selected NAND strings of the set of NAND strings, wherein the programming selected non-volatile storage elements further comprises applying a sequence of voltages to a selected word line associated with the selected NAND strings, and applying a voltage to a first bit line associated with a first selected NAND string of the selected NAND strings that increases in magnitude with later voltages in the sequence of voltages applied to the selected word line until a first of the selected non-volatile storage elements that is on the first selected NAND string is programmed.