An invention providing improvement in
integrity testing of wire bonds between an IC die and a BGA substrate.The invention includes a BGA
integrated circuit package comprising:1) a BGA substrate having conducting bond fingers and a grounded feature on a first side thereof; 2) an IC die electrically connected to the conducting bond fingers with wire bonds; the BGA substrate configured to be formed into a singulated unit with the IC die; wherein the BGA substrate does not have direct
electrical connection on the first side thereof between the bond fingers and the grounded feature; 4) the BGA substrate including an indirect
electrical connection pathway from each wire bond to the grounded feature that enables
electrical integrity testing for the wire bonds; the indirect
electrical connection pathway configured so that at least a portion of each indirect electrical connection pathway is not present on the singulated unit.The invention further includes a method for bonding an
integrated circuit (IC) die to a BGA substrate, said BGA substrate configured to be formed into a singulated unit with said IC die, said method including testing
electrical integrity of a wire bond between a) a bond finger on a first side of said BGA substrate and b) a bonding pad on said IC die, wherein said substrate does not have direct electrical connections on said first side between said bond fingers and a grounded feature on said first side; the method comprising the steps of:applying a
voltage through said wire bond on said BGA substrate to said grounded feature, through an indirect electrical connection pathway at least a portion of which is not present on said singulated unit; andmeasuring if there is current flow through said pathway.The invention further includes an
integrated circuit (IC) die mounted on and packaged with the BGA substrate, formed by a method comprising the steps of:making electrical connections between the IC die and the substrate, including forming bond finger wire bonds;testing the
electrical integrity of each bond finger wire bond according to the method of this invention;forming a
package mold on the substrate;attaching solder balls to the bottom side of the substrate; andsingulating the substrate.