Electrical isolation in panels of leadless IC packages

A method of packaging integrated circuits comprising:

• fabricating an array of integrated circuit devices using a leadless leadframe panel having a matrix of device areas thereon, each device area including a plurality of contacts formed from the leadless leadframe panel and a die, each die being electrically connected to associated contacts within the same device area, wherein the leadless leadframe panel further defines a plurality of tie bars that mechanically support and electrically connect the contacts during fabrication;
• molding at least one cap over the substrate, each cap being arranged to encapsulate an array of the device areas, thereby forming a molded substrate structure having an array of packaged devices, wherein molding material used in the molding serves to hold the contacts and die in place relative to one another;
• and
• removing at least portions of the tie bars to electrically isolate the contacts from one another after the molding operation while leaving sufficient portions of the molded structure intact to facilitate handling the structure in panel form.