The electrical characteristics of tunnel barrier engineered charge trap flash (TBE-CTF) memory of MAHONOS (Metal/Al(2)O(3)/HfO(2)/SiO(2)/Si(3)N(4)/SiO(2)/Si) structure were investigated. The stack of SiO(2)/Si(3)N(4)/SiO(2) films were used as engineered tunnel barrier, HfO(2) and Al(2)O(3) films were used as charge trap layer and blocking oxide layer, respectively. For comparison, the electrical characteristics of MONOS (Metal/SiO(2)/Si(3)N(4)/SiO(2)/Si), MONONOS (Metal/SiO(2)/Si(3)N(4)/SiO(2)/Si(3)N(4)/SiO(2)/Si), and MAHOS (Metal/Al(2)O(3)/HfO(2)/SiO(2)/Si) were also evaluated. The energy band diagram was designed by using the quantum-mechanical tunnel model (QM) and then the CTF memory devices were fabricated. As a result, the optimized thickness combination of MAHONOS structure was confirmed. The tunnel barrier engineered MAHONOS CTF memory showed a considerable enhancement of program/erase (P/E) speeds, retention time and endurance characteristics. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.