Abstract: A semiconductor integrated circuit comprises a substrate including a plurality of transistors, and a conductive line for coupling at least two of the transistors with each other, each transistor comprising a drain diffusion region, a source diffusion region, a gate region, and a test diffusion region within the substrate, the test diffusion region being electrically coupled to a metal line within the semiconductor integrated circuit for establishing an indication of the voltage at the probing diffusion region.

Abstract: A programming method for a nonvolatile memory includes the steps of: a) determining a current value of the threshold voltage; b) acquiring a target value of the threshold voltage; c) calculating a first number of gate voltage pulses necessary to take the threshold voltage from the current value to the target value; d) applying a second number of consecutive voltage pulses to the gate terminal of the cell, the second number being correlated to the first number and having a uniformly increasing amplitude; e) then measuring a current value of the threshold voltage; and repeating steps c) to e) until a final threshold value is obtained.