Transient and endurance mechanisms in highperformance embedded non-volatile memory flash devices are investigated in detail. An extraction methodology combining measurements on equivalent transistors and flash cells is proposed to discriminate the effects of defects on program/erase (P/E) efficiencies and on DC characteristics. A semi-analytical multiphonon-assisted charge trapping model is used to investigate the role and the impact of trapped charges on channel hotelectron injection and Fowler-Nordheim efficiencies, threshold voltage variations and endurance characteristics. © 2011 IEEE.