This work details how thermal-cycling reliability degradation in semiconductor devices encapsulated utilizing a lead-on-chip (LOC) packaging technique is influenced by lead-frame tape structure modification. This work demonstrates through thermal-cycling testing that device pattern reliability is very sensitive to changes in the adhesive layer structure of the lead-frame tape. Particularly, in-situ examinations show that device failures result from fractures in the Si 3 N 4 layer, which comprises the top layer of semiconductor devices, due to the excessive thermal behavior of the adhesive layer during thermal-cycling. This work theoretically proves that, during temperature variation, the Cramer-von Mises stress as well as the shear stress, which has been known to be responsible for Si 3 N 4 damage, is proportionally related to a difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between the lead-frame tape (i.e., the adhesive layer) and the silicon device. Based on the experimental results and theoretical interpretation, this work concludes that, instead of the adhesive layer, an adhesive-filling base layer with a low CTE for lead-frame attachment on the device surface can help semiconductor devices to have better reliability margins in LOC packages.