referring to fig1 the stacked die device 10 is shown prior to encapsulation disclosing the top die 12 mounted the paddle 14 and other dies 16 , 18 , and 20 ( fig2 ) which are adhesively connected to each other by a controlled - thickness thermoplastic - adhesive layer at 22 . thermoplastic indicating the adhesive sets at an elevated temperature . the group of four dies are attached to the paddle 14 by a controlled thin - adhesive layer 24 . each of the die bonding pads 26 in double rows are electrically connected to multiple lead fingers 28a , 28b , 28c . . . 28n by thin ( 0 . 001 inch ) gold or aluminum wires 30a , 30b , 30c . . . 30n ; gold being the preferred metal . for clarity , only part of the 18 bonding pads , wires , and fingers are shown . the critical bonding method used at the die end pad 26 is ultrasonic ball bond as named by the shape of the bond as at 32 . this first - installed bond and formed gold wire are low - loop wire bonds as seen at critical dimension 34 , as will be described later . the other end of gold wires 30 are attached to the lead fingers by a wedge bond 36 , which is also an ultrasonic indicating the use of ultrasonic energy to heat the wire 30 as it is compressed against the lead finger 28 . the wedge bond is not used on the die because the bonding machine contacts the bonding surface and could damage this critical surface . the lead fingers may be formed upward as at 38 to permit the use of shorter wires 30 . paddle 14 which supports the stack is attached to the lead frame typically at four corners as at 40 and also typically , in this application , would have a downset from the lead frame and lead fingers 28 as at dimension 42 . the stack is finally encapsulated by a plastic or ceramic at 44 . by careful control of layer thicknesses , it is possible to fabricate a four - stack die device having as overall height 46 of about 0 . 110 inches which is the same height as a current single die . starting at the bottom , the encapsulation thickness 48 is between 0 . 010 and 0 . 012 inches . the paddle 74 thickness 50 can be between 0 . 005 and 0 . 010 inches and is a matter of choice . the controlled adhesive - layer thickness 52 can be from 0 . 001 to 0 . 005 inches . the individual dies 20 , 18 , 16 , and 12 each have a thickness 54 of 0 . 012 inches nd the critical controlled , adhesive - layer thicknesses 56 between each die are between 0 . 008 and 0 . 010 inches . these thin layers have to be slightly greater than the low - loop wire dimension 34 , which is about 0 . 006 inches . finally , the top encapsulation 58 is between 0 . 010 and 0 . 012 inches so as to cover the top loop . thus it can be seen by carefully controlling and minimizing the adhesive layer thicknesses 56 , the top and bottom encapsulation thicknesses 48 nd 58 , and the paddle adhesive layer 52 that it is possible to have an overall height between 0 . 108 and 0 . 110 inches overall for the four - stack die . if the looser tolerances were used for a two - stack die , the height at 60 would be between 0 . 058 and 0 . 073 inches and for a three - die stack it would be from 0 . 078 to 0 . 100 inches . the fabrication of these two or four - stack die devices , necessarily , has to be from the bottom up , since it is not possible to form the die pad wire ball bond 32 on the lower dies 16 , 18 , and 30 , if the four dies are already stacked . this is due to the overhead space required by the wire bond machine . the die pads 26 of each die can be each connected to an individual lead finger 28 or the dies can be wired in parallel . the former configuration would , therefore , require ( for a four die stack ) something less than 4 × 18 = 72 leads , while parallel connections would require something on the order of 22 or more pins , depending on the type of devices and system requirements . the final packages can be in the form of a small outline j - leaded ( soj ) package , a dual in - line package ( dip ), a single in - line package ( sip ), a plastic leaded chip carrier ( plcc ), and a zig - zag in - line package ( zip ). while a preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed , various modes of carrying out the principles disclosed herein are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims . therefore , it is understood that the scope of the invention is not to be limited except as otherwise set forth in the claims .