Metal filamentation-based mechanisms offer a high switching current ratio but typically require high switching voltages due to atomic vacancy filling and movement. By introducing non-reactive nitrogen gas during plasma sputtering of silver or gold, we create residual stresses in the tens of gigapascals within the dielectric layer. These stresses facilitate sub-micron filamentation growth while avoiding exfoliation issues. Additionally, higher sputtering pressures result in a larger net conductivity change and faster current growth, suggesting a threshold pressure at which structural changes significantly alter memristive characteristics.

XPS depth profiling reveals that increased sputtering pressures raise the binding energy of Al 2p and N 1s, indicating lattice strain in the AlN phase. Conversely, the decrease in O 1s binding energy suggests stress relief in the AlON phase, indicating a robust material integration with metal electrodes. The Spike-Timing-Dependent Plasticity (STDP) response shows multiple maxima and minima, influenced by both sputtering pressure and electrode orientation.

 Furthermore, these devices exhibit lateral growth of silver filamentation across the metal nitride thin film layer with gaps less than one-hundredth of a micron. This suggests lower dielectric strengths than typical bulk dielectric breakdown voltages. The presence of residual stresses also implies greater dendritic interconnectivity and stronger electrode-to-electrode connections.

To demonstrate the endurance of these devices, we incorporated gold (Au) and achieved stable memristance behavior over 10 million cycles. Our results demonstrate that introducing high residual stress can be done without significant drawbacks, paving the way for lower-power and highly diverse neuromorphic applications