P-type Si nanowire (NW)-based nano-floating gate memory (NFGM) with Au nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in Al 2 O 3 gate layers is characterized in this study. The electrical characteristics of a representative p-type Si NW-based NFGM exhibit a counterclockwise hysteresis loop indicating the trapping and detrapping of electrons in the Au NP nodes of the NFGM device. The threshold voltage shift of the device is 5.4V and the device has good retention over a lapse of time of 5×10 4 s. On the other hand, the p-type Si NW-based top-gate device without any Au NPs does not exhibit any significant threshold voltage shift. This observation reveals that the memory behavior of the p-type Si NW-based NFGM is due to the trapping and detrapping of charge carriers in the Au NPs.