A sense amplifier increases the differential voltage between a reference signal and a sense signal by using a current mirror to control the generation of the reference signal and the sense signal responsive to a common control signal. The sense amplifier includes a reference signal generator for generating the reference signal at a reference node responsive to a reference cell, a sense signal generator for generating the sense signal at a sense node responsive to the state of a memory cell, and a differential amplifier for amplifying the voltage difference between the reference signal and the sense signal. The reference node is coupled to the reference cell which discharges current from the reference node, and the sense node is coupled to the memory cell which discharges current from the sense node. The reference signal generator includes a first current source transistor that is coupled between a power supply terminal and the reference node. The sense signal generator includes a second current source transistor coupled between the power supply terminal and the sense node. The control terminals of the first and second transistors are coupled together to receive the common control signal from either the reference node or the sense node. In either configuration, the control terminal of one of the current source transistor is decoupled from its respective node to allow the voltage of the node to vary widely with respect to the other node.