Method of fabricating an encapsulated semiconductor device with partly exposed leads

1. A method for fabricating a semiconductor device, comprising:

providing a semiconductor chip having a main surface on which a plurality of pads are formed;

arranging a plurality of leads on the semiconductor chip through insulating layers, wherein end portions of the leads are bent by pressing so as to extend perpendicularly to the main surface and over the main surface, and wherein opposite end portions of the leads are joined to a lead frame;

electrically connecting the plurality of pads to the plurality of leads, respectively;

sealing the semiconductor chip and the leads with a sealing element within a mold, wherein tips of the end portions touch the mold during the sealing such that the tips of the end portions are exposed at a surface of the sealing element upon removal of the mold;

forming conductive layers on the exposed tips; and

dividing exposed portions of the leads projecting outside from the sealing element from the lead frame,

wherein the sealing element is provided with protrusions extending near the exposed tips of the end portions of the leads, and wherein a distance between a plane of the sealing element including the exposed tips of the end portions of the leads and a plane of the sealing element including end surfaces of the protrusions is shorter than a height of the conductive layers, and

wherein the conductive layers are partly melted and connected to circuits formed on a wiring board, and the protrusions of the sealing element come into contact with a surface of the wiring board when mounting the semiconductor device on the wiring board.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of recesses conforming to the shape of the conductive layers are formed on the surface of the sealing element on which the tips of the end portions of the leads are exposed at positions corresponding to the tips of the end portions of the leads, and wherein the conductive layers are connected to the tips of the end portions of the leads exposed at bottom surfaces of the recesses, respectively.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said dividing comprises cutting the exposed portions of the leads from the lead frame, so that the leads do not extend outside the sealing element.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said dividing comprises cutting the exposed portions of the leads from the lead frame, so that extended portions of the leads remain outside the sealing element.

5. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising bending the extended portions of the leads substantially perpendicularly to the main surface of the semiconductor chip.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the extended portions of the leads further extend over a second surface of the semiconductor chip, the second surface being a surface opposite the main surface.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the tips of the end portions of the leads are formed to be concave.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein such arranging comprises providing a plurality of leads having different lengths.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein such arranging comprises providing a first plurality of leads each having a first length and a second plurality of leads each having a second length greater than the first length, so that the exposed tips of the end portions of the first plurality of leads are not aligned with the exposed tips of the end portions of the second plurality of leads.