Electronic elements (44, 44′, 44″) having an active device region (46) and bonding pad (BP) region (60) on a common substrate (45) desirably include a dielectric region underlying the BP (35) to reduce the parasitic impedance of the BP (35) and its interconnection (41) as the electronic elements (44, 44′, 44″) are scaled to higher power and / or operating frequency. Mechanical stress created by plain (e.g., oxide only) dielectric regions (36′) can adversely affect performance, manufacturing yield, pad-to-device proximity and occupied area. This can be avoided by providing a composite dielectric region (62, 62′, 62″) having electrically isolated inclusions (65, 65′, 65′) of a thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) less than that of the dielectric material (78, 78′, 78″) in which they are embedded and / or closer to the substrate (45) TEC. For silicon substrates (45), poly or amorphous silicon is suitable for the inclusions (65, 65′, 65″) and silicon oxide for the dielectric material (78, 78′, 78″). The inclusions (65, 65′, 65″) preferably have a blade-like shape separated by and enclosed within the dielectric material (78, 78′, 78″).