Patent ID: 8802505

Claim:
A method of making a semiconductor device, comprising: providing a semiconductor wafer; forming a plurality of bumps on a first surface of the semiconductor wafer; forming a protective layer on an entire second surface of the semiconductor wafer opposite the first surface containing the bumps; singulating the semiconductor wafer into semiconductor die after forming the protective layer on the entire second surface of the semiconductor wafer so that the protective layer terminates at an edge of the second surface of the semiconductor die; mounting the semiconductor die to a carrier with the protective layer formed on the entire second surface oriented away from the carrier and the bumps oriented toward the carrier, the semiconductor die being separated from the carrier by the bumps; positioning the semiconductor die within a molding cavity; forming a molding compound around a side of the semiconductor die and around the bumps under pressure while the semiconductor die is within the molding cavity, wherein the protective layer reduces stress on the entire second surface of the semiconductor die during the molding process; and removing the entire protective layer from the semiconductor die after forming the molding compound around the semiconductor die and bumps leaving the entire second surface of the semiconductor die devoid of the molding compound for heat dissipation from the second surface of the semiconductor die.