A tape bonding system may include a tape and a lead coupled to the tape. The lead may have a stress relief formed along its length which is adapted to relieve stresses and strains arising from differential thermal expansion of the materials to which the tape is coupled. The lead may have a first portion supported by the tape and a second portion which is unsupported by the tape due to an opening in the tape. The unsupported portion of the tape may be deflected to make contact with a bond pad. In this configuration, the lead may accommodate differential thermal expansion by cantilevered beam displacements. In addition, due to the provision of a stress relief, the beam can respond in a totally different rotational displacement to compressive stresses parallel to the surfaces of the integrated circuit elements being joined.