A Cu/Pt nanoparticle (Pt-NP)-embedded SiO2/Pt structure was fabricated to investigate its resistive switching behavior. The resistive switching behavior may be explained by the filament model with the electrochemical reaction. The Pt-NPs enhanced the local electric field to facilitate the filament formation and to decrease the operating voltages. In addition, the non-uniform distribution of the electric field caused the formation of a Cu filament on a Pt-NP, which decreased the switching dispersion. A simulation of the electric field in a Pt-NP embedded SiO2 layer was used to investigate the influence of Pt-NPs on the resistive switching behavior. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.