Characteristics of Gd2O3 nanocrystal (Gd2O3-NC) memory with p(+)-p substrate high-low junction were investigated The hysteresis memory window and program speed were significantly enhanced due to the band to-band tunneling (BTBT) electrons injection by the high-low junction Besides under the same program/erase (P/E) cycling test the electron and hole potential differences (q phi(Bn) + q phi(Bp)) will contribute to superior endurance properties of the Gd2O3 NC memory with p-type substrate than that with n-type one Without sacrificing the erase speed and charge retention characteristics the Gd2O3-NC memory with p(+)-p substrate high-low junction can greatly improve the memory performances and can be applied into future non-volatile memory (NVM) (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved