Patent ID: 8274838

Claim:
A method for programming a set of non-volatile storage elements, comprising: applying a set of program pulses to the set of non-volatile storage elements, each non-volatile storage element in the set of non-volatile storage elements is associated with a respective bit line, the set of non-volatile storage elements includes different subsets of non-volatile storage elements, each subset is programmed to a respective verify level of a respective target data state among a plurality of target data states, and the set of non-volatile storage elements includes one subset of non-volatile storage elements which is programmed to one respective verify level of one respective target data state; determining when a first trigger condition is met for the one subset of non-volatile storage elements during the set of program pulses; and when the first trigger condition is met, stepping up a voltage of respective bit lines of non-volatile storage elements of the one subset which have not yet been locked out from programming, in lockstep with each program pulse of a plurality of successive program pulses of the set of program pulses, the voltage is stepped up to a different level for each of the successive program pulses, and each of the different levels is below a lockout level.