A soft program method is proposed for charge-trap flash (CTF) memory devices. By adding a subsequent small positive gate pulse after main Fowler-Nordheim (FN) injection programming, early charge loss is greatly reduced. The multi-level cell performance as well as the initial flat-band voltage (V-FB) instability can thereby be improved by removing the trapped electrons at the shallow traps in the blocking oxide layer. The proposed soft program method is a simple but very effective way to improve the fast retention property without changing the memory structure, especially for cases where the j-value of the blocking oxide is high. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.