Patent ID: 7432133

Claim:
A method of providing a semiconductor die, the semiconductor die configured to operate at at least a first predetermined operating frequency, the method comprising: providing a die having a principal surface with conductive interconnections and bonding pads thereon; covering at least a portion of the principal surface of the die with a buffer layer material to form a buffer layer; encapsulating the die with an encapsulant such that the encapsulant substantially surrounds the die and the upper surface of the encapsulant is substantially exposed; and patterning the buffer layer to substantially expose regions on the bonding pads to be used for coupling the die to external leads but leaving the buffer layer over at least some of the conductive interconnections; wherein the buffer layer material has at least one of the following characteristics: (i) a dielectric constant less than the dielectric constant of the encapsulant, and (ii) a loss tangent less than the loss tangent of the encapsulant at the first predetermined operating frequency.