Patent ID: 8072053

Claim:
A leadless integrated circuit (IC) package comprising: a metal leadframe having a thickness and having a top surface and a bottom surface, the metal leadframe comprising a plurality of terminals extending from the top surface to the bottom surface, each of the plurality of terminals comprising a bonding area at the top surface, a contact area at the bottom surface, and a metal trace coupling the bonding area to the contact area; the top surface of the metal leadframe having a first pattern of recesses etched therein to a first depth defining the bonding areas and upper portions of the metal traces; the bottom surface of the metal leadframe having a second pattern of recesses etched therein to a second depth defining the contact areas and lower portions of the metal traces; the first depth plus the second depth being greater than the thickness of the metal leadframe; the first pattern of recesses including portions of the top surface of the metal leadframe disposed directly above at least one contact area such that a width of the top surface of the metal leadframe disposed above the at least one contact area is less than a width of the at least one contact area disposed therebeneath; the second pattern of recesses including areas disposed below one or more of the bonding areas such that the metal leadframe disposed below the one or more bonding areas is removed to the second depth; an IC chip mounted on the top surface of the metal leadframe and comprising a plurality of bonding pads; a plurality of wires, each of the plurality of wires bonded to a bonding area and a bonding pad; an encapsulation compound covering the IC chip, the plurality of wires, and at least a portion of each of the plurality of terminals; and at least one of the plurality of terminals comprising a metal trace electrically coupling a bonding area laterally disposed from a contact area such that no line perpendicular to the top surface of the metal leadframe intersects both the bonding area and the contact area electrically coupled to the bonding area via the metal trace.