Patent ID: 8420437

Claim:
A method for forming an EMI shielding layer on all surfaces of a semiconductor package, comprising the steps of: providing a semiconductor package comprising a chip, an encapsulant encapsulating the chip, and a plurality of external terminals exposed from the encapsulant, wherein the semiconductor package has a top surface, a bottom surface, and a plurality of side surfaces; forming a temporary protective layer on a plurality of exposed surfaces of the external terminals, wherein the temporary protective layer is further in contact with a plurality of annular surface regions of the semiconductor package surrounding and adjacent to the external terminals; forming an EMI shielding layer on the top surface, the bottom surface, and the side surfaces without forming on the exposed surfaces of the external terminals; and removing the temporary protective layer to create a gap between the EMI shielding layer and the external terminals wherein the gap is defined by the thickness of the temporary protective layer.