Patent ID: 8431063

Claim:
A method for heat treating a panel, the method comprising: providing a panel comprising a plastic housing composition, a plurality of semiconductor chips embedded in the plastic housing composition such that rear sides and edge sides of the semiconductor chips are disposed within the plastic housing composition and top sides of the semiconductor chips form a coplanar area with a top side of the plastic housing composition, wherein an underside of the panel is formed by the plastic housing composition; fixing the underside of the panel to a holder; generating a temperature gradient (ΔT) between the top side of the panel including the coplanar area and the underside of the panel; maintaining the temperature gradient (ΔT) for at least a selected time period; and cooling the panel to room temperature (T R ); wherein: the generating of the temperature gradient (ΔT) includes placing the panel between two holders providing different sources of heat such that one of the top side and the underside of the panel is heated while the other of the top side and the underside of the panel is simultaneously cooled; and the steps of generating and maintaining a temperature gradient (ΔT) between the top side of the panel and the underside of the panel and cooling the panel to room temperature (T R ) prior or soldering or application of any structure to the underside of the panel.