Selective memory cell program and erase

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed herein for programming memory arrays to achieve high program/erase cycle endurance. In some aspects, only selected word lines (WL) are programmed with other WLs remaining unprogrammed. As an example, only the even word lines are programmed with the odd WLs left unprogrammed. After all of the even word lines are programmed and the data block is to be programmed with new data, the block is erased. Later, only the odd word lines are programmed. The data may be transferred to a block that stores multiple bit per memory cell prior to the erase. In one aspect, the data is programmed in a checkerboard pattern with some memory cells programmed and others left unprogrammed. Later, after erasing the data, the previously unprogrammed part of the checkerboard pattern is programmed with remaining cells unprogrammed.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of operating non-volatile storage having a plurality of non-volatile storage elements and a plurality of word lines associated with the plurality of non-volatile storage elements, the method comprising:
 erasing the plurality of non-volatile storage elements; 
 programming data in a first group of the plurality of non-volatile storage elements while leaving unprogrammed a second group of the plurality of non-volatile storage elements, for every non-volatile storage element in the first group any neighbor non-volatile storage element on a word line either above or below the non-volatile storage element in the first group is a member of the second group that remains unprogrammed; 
 erasing the data in at least the first group of non-volatile storage elements while the second group of non-volatile storage elements remain unprogrammed; 
 programming at least a portion of the second group of the non-volatile storage elements, for every non-volatile storage element in the portion of the second group any neighbor non-volatile storage element on a word line either above or below the non-volatile storage element in the portion of the second group remains unprogrammed; and 
 erasing data in the at least a portion of the second group of non-volatile storage elements while the neighbor non-volatile storage elements on word lines either above or below the non-volatile storage element in the at least the portion of the second group remain unprogrammed. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of non-volatile storage elements are part of a block in which data is stored one bit per non-volatile storage element and the non-volatile storage further includes multi-level blocks of non-volatile storage elements in which more than one bit of data is stored per non-volatile storage element. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2  further comprising:
 transferring the data programmed in the first group of non-volatile storage elements to one or more of the multi-level blocks while the second group of non-volatile storage elements associated remain unprogrammed; and 
 transferring the data programmed in the at least the portion of the second group of non-volatile storage elements to one or more of the multi-level blocks while the neighbor non-volatile storage elements on word lines either above or below the non-volatile storage element in the at least the portion of the second group remain unprogrammed. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1  wherein the first group are non-volatile storage elements associated with both an even bit line of the plurality of bit lines and an even word line of the plurality word lines and both an odd bit line of the plurality of bit lines and an odd word line of the plurality word lines, the second group are non-volatile storage elements associated with both an odd bit line and an even word line and both an even bit line and an odd word line, the at least a portion of the second group is the entire second group. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1  wherein the first group are non-volatile storage elements associated with even word lines of the plurality of word lines and the second group are non-volatile storage elements associated with odd word lines of the plurality of word lines, the at least a portion of the second group is the entire second group. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5  wherein the erasing the data in the first group of non-volatile storage elements while the second group of non-volatile storage elements remain unprogrammed includes performing a selective erase of the non-volatile storage elements associated with the even word lines without erasing the non-volatile storage elements associated with the odd word lines. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6  wherein the performing a selective erase of the non-volatile storage elements associated with the even word lines without erasing the non-volatile storage elements associated with the odd word lines includes performing an erase verify of the even word lines without performing an erase verify of the odd word lines. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7  wherein the erasing the data in the first group of non-volatile storage elements while the second group of non-volatile storage elements remain unprogrammed includes:
 applying one or more erase pulses to the plurality of non-volatile storage elements; 
 applying a first voltage to the odd word lines while applying the one or more erase pulses; and 
 applying a second voltage to the even word lines while applying the one or more erase pulses, the first voltage is higher than the second voltage. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8  wherein the applying a second voltage to the even word lines while applying the one or more erase pulses creates a strong electric field across tunnel oxide layers of the non-volatile storage elements associated with the even word lines, the applying a first voltage to the odd word lines while applying the one or more erase pulses creates a less strong electric field across tunnel oxide layers of the non-volatile storage elements associated with the odd word lines. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9  wherein the erasing the data in the first group of non-volatile storage elements while the second group of non-volatile storage elements remain unprogrammed includes performing an erase verify by:
 applying a read voltage to the odd word lines; 
 applying a voltage that is less than the read voltage to the even word lines; 
 sensing a condition of a bit line associated with a first subset of non-volatile storage elements of the plurality of non-volatile storage elements; and 
 determining whether the first subset of non-volatile storage elements are erased based on the condition. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1  wherein the programming data in a first group includes programming non-volatile storage elements that are associated with every third word line of the plurality of word lines. 
     
     
       12. A non-volatile storage device comprising:
 a plurality of non-volatile storage elements; 
 a plurality of word lines associated with the group of non-volatile storage elements; and 
 one or more managing circuits in communication with the non-volatile storage elements, the one or more managing circuits erase the non-volatile storage elements, the one or more managing circuits program data in a first group of the plurality of non-volatile storage elements while leaving unprogrammed a second group of the plurality of non-volatile storage elements, for every non-volatile storage element in the first group any neighbor non-volatile storage element on a word line either above or below the non-volatile storage element in the first group is a member of the second group that remains unprogrammed, the one or more managing circuits erase the data in the first group of non-volatile storage elements while the second group of non-volatile storage elements remain unprogrammed, the one or more managing circuits program at least a portion of the second group of the non-volatile storage elements, for every non-volatile storage element in the portion of the second group any neighbor non-volatile storage element on a word line either above or below non-volatile storage element in the portion of the second group remains unprogrammed, the one or more managing circuits erase data in the at least the portion of the second group of non-volatile storage elements while the neighbor non-volatile storage elements on word lines either above or below the non-volatile storage element in the at least the portion of the second group remain unprogrammed. 
 
     
     
       13. The non-volatile storage device of  claim 12 , further comprising a plurality of bit lines associated with the group of non-volatile storage elements, the first group includes non-volatile storage elements associated with both an even bit line of the plurality of bit lines and an even word line of the plurality of word lines and both an odd bit line of the plurality of bit lines and an odd word line of the plurality of bit lines, the second group includes non-volatile storage elements associated with both an odd bit line and an even word line and both an even bit line and an odd word line. 
     
     
       14. The non-volatile storage device of  claim 12 , wherein the first group includes non-volatile storage elements associated with even word lines of the plurality of word lines and the second group includes non-volatile storage elements associated with odd word lines of the plurality of word lines. 
     
     
       15. The non-volatile storage device of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more managing circuits perform a selective erase of the non-volatile storage elements associated with the even word lines without erasing the non-volatile storage elements associated with the odd word lines. 
     
     
       16. The non-volatile storage device of  claim 15 , wherein the one or more managing circuits performing a selective erase of the non-volatile storage elements associated with the even word lines includes the one or more managing circuits applying one or more erase pulses to the plurality of non-volatile storage elements, the one or more managing circuits apply a first voltage to the odd word lines while applying the one or more erase pulses, the one or more managing circuits apply a second voltage to the even word lines while applying the one or more erase pulses, the first voltage is higher than the second voltage. 
     
     
       17. The non-volatile storage device of  claim 16 , wherein the one or more managing circuits applying a second voltage to the even word lines while applying the one or more erase pulses creates a strong electric field across tunnel oxide layers of the non-volatile storage elements associated with the even word lines, the one or more managing circuits applying a first voltage to the odd word lines while applying the one or more erase pulses does create a less strong electric field across tunnel oxide layers of the non-volatile storage elements associated with the odd word lines. 
     
     
       18. The non-volatile storage device of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more managing circuits perform wear-leveling based on the number of times that the first group of non-volatile storage elements have been erased and the number of times that the second group of non-volatile storage elements have been erased. 
     
     
       19. The non-volatile storage device of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of non-volatile storage elements are part of a block in which data is stored one bit per non-volatile storage element and the non-volatile storage further includes multi-level blocks of non-volatile storage elements in which more than one bit of data is stored per non-volatile storage element. 
     
     
       20. The non-volatile storage device of  claim 19 , wherein the one or more managing circuits transfer the data programmed in the first group of non-volatile storage elements associated to one or more of the multi-level blocks while the second group of non-volatile storage elements associated remain unprogrammed, the one or more managing circuits transfer the data programmed in the at least the portion of the second group of non-volatile storage elements to one or more of the multi-level blocks while the neighbor non-volatile storage elements on word lines either above or below the non-volatile storage element in the at least the portion of the second group remain unprogrammed. 
     
     
       21. The method of claim 1, wherein:
 the plurality of non-volatile storage elements are arranged in a three-dimensional memory structure.   
     
     
       22. The method of claim 1, wherein:
 the non-volatile storage comprises a three-dimensional memory array, the three-dimensional memory array comprises the plurality of non-volatile storage elements.   
     
     
       23. The non-volatile storage device of claim 12, wherein:
 the plurality of non-volatile storage elements are arranged in a three-dimensional memory structure.   
     
     
       24. The non-volatile storage device of claim 12, wherein:
 the non-volatile storage device comprises a three-dimensional memory array, the three-dimensional memory array comprises the plurality of non-volatile storage elements.