Patent ID: 8089815

Claim:
A storage system, comprising: a set of storage elements, including at least one storage element which is to be programmed to a target data state; a respective bit line associated with each storage element; and one or more control circuits, the one or more control circuits, to perform a plurality of programming iterations of a programming operation for the set of storage elements: (a) apply program pulses to the set of storage elements, with the respective bit line of the at least one storage element grounded, until the at least one storage element reaches a verify level which is below a target verify level of a target data state of the at least one storage element, and (b) in response to the at least one storage element reaching the verify level which is below the target verify level of the target data state of the at least one storage element, apply program pulses to the set of storage elements, with the respective bit line of the at least one storage element floated, until the at least one storage element reaches the target verify level of the target data state.