Advanced FinFETs fabricated on alternative SOI substrate with SiO2-Si3N4-SiO2 (ONO) buried insulator are investigated for flash memory applications. The Si3N4 buried layer can easily trap charges by applying high back-gate or reasonable drain bias. The shift of the drain current, flowing at front-gate interface and resulting from interface coupling, indicates the amount of trapped/detrapped charges in the buried nitride layer. The memory effect, which is defined as the difference of drain current level, is induced by trapped/detrapped charges. The trapped charges in the buried dielectric also induce a drain current hysteresis when the back-gate bias is dynamically scanned. Systematic measurements reveal that the memory effect depends on the bias conditions and geometrical parameters. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.