Patent ID: 8889995

Claim:
A wire bonding pad system for a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) module, the wire bonding pad system comprising: a copper trace including at least a top surface and a sidewall, and formed on a substrate of an RFIC module; a nickel layer plated over a portion of the top surface of the copper trace; a palladium layer plated over the nickel layer; and a gold layer plated over the palladium layer, the nickel, palladium and gold layers forming a wire bonding pad that covers a plated portion of the copper trace leaving an unplated portion of the copper trace free from the nickel, palladium, and gold layers, the unplated portion of the copper trace including the sidewall of the copper trace and the top surface of the copper trace substantially parallel to the wire bonding pad along the sidewall to maintain an unplated path along the copper trace to conduct radio frequency (RF) current during operation of the RFIC module to reduce RF power loss.