Patent ID: 8300462

Claim:
A method comprising: performing an operation on an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) array, wherein the operation is selected from a program operation and an erase operation, and wherein the EEPROM array comprises: EEPROM cells arranged in rows and columns; a plurality of word-lines extending in a column direction, wherein each of the plurality of word-lines is connected to control gates of the EEPROM cells in a same column; and a plurality of source-lines extending in a row direction, wherein each of the plurality of source-lines is connected to sources of the EEPROM cells in a same row, wherein during the operation, a first source-line in the plurality of source-lines is applied with a first source-line voltage, and a second source-line in the plurality of source-lines is applied with a second source-line voltage different from the first source-line voltage.