NON-VOLATILE MEMORY WTH LOOP DEPENDANT RAMP-UP RATE

A non-volatile memory system is configured to program non-volatile memory cells by applying doses of programming to the memory cells and performing a program-verify operation following each dose of programming. Each dose of programming and the corresponding program-verify operation following the dose of programming is referred to as a program loop. The program-verify operation comprises applying a verify reference voltage to a selected word line and applying an overdrive voltage to unselected word lines. To reduce the amount of current used, the memory system includes a loop dependent reduction in the ramp-up rate of the overdrive voltage applied to unselected word lines during program-verify.