P-channel charge-trapping flash memory devices with Si, SiGe, and Si/Ge super-lattice channel are investigated in this work. A Si/Ge super-lattice structure with extremely low roughness and good crystal structure is obtained by precisely controlling the epitaxy thickness of Ge layer. Both programming and erasing (P/E) speeds are significantly improved by employing this Si/Ge super-lattice channel. Moreover, satisfactory retention and excellent endurance characteristics up to 10(6) P/E cycles with 3.8 V memory window show that the degradation on reliability properties is negligible when super-lattice channel is introduced. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.