Patent ID: 7875504

Claim:
A method of reducing wire bond loop heights in wire bonds electrically connecting an integrated circuit die with contact pads to a printed circuit board with a conductors, the die having an active surface that has functional elements and the contact pads being formed along an edge of the active surface and spaced less than 260 microns from the functional elements; the method comprising the steps of: mounting the integrated circuit die such that the contact pads are spaced from the conductor; positioning an adhesive surface between the contact pads and the conductors on the printed circuit board, said adhesive surface being positioned below a height of both the contact pads and the conductors; connecting the contact pads with the conductors by welding one end of a wire bond to each contact pad and drawing a wire-bonding tool towards a respective conductor, such that part of the wire bond drapes onto the adhesive surface during wirebonding; providing a profiling blade with an edge; forming a bead of encapsulant material along the edge; positioning the edge between the contact pads and the functional elements, and above the active surface at a predetermined spacing from the die; and, moving the profiling blade away from the functional elements to cover the wire bonds with the encapsulant material while the functional elements remain exposed.