A regulated charge pump, regulated by a plurality of capacitor boost
stages and separate from the memory device supply voltage (V.sub.cc),
generates a regulated voltage (V.sub.SA) over a range of supply voltages.
The regulated charge pump powers sense amplifier and differential
amplifier circuits of the memory device to permit a low bit line bias
voltage. The differential amplifier circuit generates a logical output to
indicate a memory cell programmed state that is detected by the sense
amplifier circuit.