the design of the premolded housing must be adapted to the chip assembly i e the stopping edge running around the inner wall of the housing must be adapted to the overall chip height of a stepped chip assembly it has been shown that after the mounting of the sensor chips the height of the wire bonding surfaces on the side of the housing should be advantageously less than the height of the wire bonding surfaces on the side of the chip this advantageous height difference may also be produced by mounting a base under the chips e g by adhesively bonding a silicon or glass plate the term u201c stepped chip assembly u201d is understood to mean that a step is present on at least one side of the chip assembly the bonding contacts are situated on this step the chip or chips are subsequently mounted in the premold housing e g adhesively bonded or in the event of a suitable chip mounting surface soldered and contacted or wire bonded using wires the maximum height of the bonding loops i e the distance of the u201c highest u201d point of a wire bond above the base of the housing is of high importance to the functioning of the passivation this maximum height of the vertex of the wire shape.