INTEGRATED CIRCUIT PACKAGE

1 . An integrated circuit package comprising:

a semiconductor die;

a lead frame lying in a first plane;

at least one conductive pillar structure extending outwardly from the first plane, wherein the lead frame and the at least one conductive pillar structure are formed of sintered conductive material;

encapsulation material which encapsulates the semiconductor die, the lead frame and the at least one conductive pillar structure;

a conductive layer on an upper face of the package, the conductive layer conductively connecting to the at least one conductive pillar.

2 . The package of claim 1 wherein the at least one conductive pillar structure has a height which is greater than a height of the lead frame.

3 . The package of claim 1 wherein the at least one conductive pillar structure extends perpendicularly to the first plane.

4 . The package of claim 1 comprising a plurality of the conductive pillars.

5 . The package of claim 4 wherein the plurality of the conductive pillars are spaced around a perimeter of the lead frame.

6 . The package of claim 1 wherein the at least one conductive pillar is located on a perimeter of the package.

7 . The package of claim 1 wherein the at least one conductive pillar comprises a continuous wall of conductive material located around a perimeter of the lead frame.

8 . The package of claim 7 wherein the wall is located on a perimeter of the package.

9 . The package of claim 1 wherein the conductive layer forms at least one of: an EMI shield for the package and a thermal shield for the package.

10 . The package of claim 1 wherein the conductive layer is a conductive sheet material.

11 . The package of claim 1 wherein the conductive layer is sintered conductive material.

12 . The package of claim 1 wherein the sintered conductive material is sintered metal.

13 . The package of claim 1 wherein the sintered conductive material is sintered silver.

14 . The package of claim 1 further comprising a thermal pad beneath the semiconductor die, and wherein a conductive path connects the at least one conductive pillar structure to the thermal pad.

15 . A method of packaging a semiconductor die comprising:

forming a lead frame by depositing conductive material onto a surface of a carrier at locations where elements of the lead frame are required;

forming at least one conductive pillar structure by depositing the conductive material onto the surface of the carrier at a locations where the at least one conductive pillar structure is required, wherein the conductive material is sintered conductive material;

attaching a semiconductor die;

connecting the semiconductor die to the lead frame;

encapsulating the semiconductor die, the lead frame and the at least one conductive pillar structure to form an encapsulated package;

adding a conductive layer to an upper face of the encapsulated package, the conductive layer conductively connecting to the at least one conductive pillar; and

removing the carrier.

16 . The method of claim 15 wherein the at least one conductive pillar structure has a height which is greater than a height of the lead frame.

17 . The method of claim 15 wherein the forming at least one conductive pillar structure comprises a plurality of stages of depositing the conductive material with curing between the stages.

18 . The method of claim 15 wherein adding a conductive layer comprises depositing a layer of the conductive material on the upper face of the encapsulated package.

19 . The method of claim 15 wherein adding a conductive layer comprises attaching a conductive sheet to the upper face of the encapsulated package.

20 . The method of claim 15 wherein forming the at least one conductive pillar structure by depositing the conductive material comprises one of:

screen printing the conductive material;

printing the conductive material.