High-quality Bi4Ti3O12 ferroelectric thin films on p-Si substrates were prepared by using the sol-gel technique. The growth behavior, ferroelectric properties, C-V characteristic and fatigue characteristic of Bi4Ti3O12 were investigated. The results show that the growth of Bi4Ti3O12 on bare p-Si substrates is c-axis-oriented with the increase of annealing temperature, and the apparent dependence of the ferroelectric properties of Bi4Ti3O12 films on the grain size, growth behavior and carrier concentration stems from the temperature effects. The C-V hysteresis curves with clockwise loops proved that the Ag/Bi4Ti3O12/p-Si heterostructure can realize a memory effect due to the ferroelectric polarization of Bi4Ti3O12 films and the remnant polarization of the Bi4Ti3O12 films reduced by 12% of the initial value after 109 bipolar switching cycles, which indicated that these Bi4Ti3O12 films deposited on p-Si substrates would be qualified for ferroelectric memories.