In this work, electrical characteristics of the Ge-incorporated Nickel silicide (NiSiGe) nanocrystals memory device formed by the rapidly thermal annealing in N-2 and O-2 ambient have been studied. The trapping layer was deposited by co-sputtering the NiSi2 and Ge, simultaneously. Transmission electron microscope results indicate that the NiSiGe nanocrystals were formed obviously in both the samples. The memory devices show obvious charge-storage ability under capacitance-voltage measurement. However, it is found that the NiSiGe nanocrystals device formed by annealing in N-2 ambient has smaller memory window and better retention characteristics than in O-2 ambient. Then, related material analyses were used to confirm that the oxidized Ge elements affect the charge-storage sites and the electrical performance of the NCs memory. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.