Integrated circuits are known to include one or more die mounted in a package (e.g., a standard package, surface mount package, ball grid array package, flip-chip package, et cetera). Each die includes a plurality of bonding pads that are coupled, via bonding wires, to bond posts of the package to provide external connectivity to the die or dies. Bonding wires are typically short (e.g., less than 1 centimeter), thin (e.g., less than 30 gage wire), and constructed of aluminum and/or gold to have a small impedance (e.g., less than 0.5 Ohm and 2–20 nano Henries). Thus, for most applications, a bond wire has negligible affects on signals inputted to and/or outputted from the die.
As the frequencies of signals increase, the impedance of a bond wire becomes an issue. For example, at 5 gigahertz, the impedance of a bond wire may be approximately 157 OHMS to 628 OHMS (impedance=2πfL). For RF transceivers, such a large bond wire impedance makes impedance matching of an antenna via an impedance transformation circuit very difficult.
Therefore, a need exists for a low impedance bonding technique for use in high frequency applications.