Heat dissipation for integrated circuit

A packaged integrated circuit, having:

• an integrated circuit disposed on a package substrate,
• an encapsulant disposed around the integrated circuit, the encapsulant having a first thermal transfer rate,
• a heat sink disposed at least partially within the encapsulant and having at least a portion of one surface of the heat sink exposed outside of the encapsulant, the heat sink having a second thermal transfer rate,
• the integrated circuit having an uppermost passivation layer that does not extend off of the integrated circuit, where the passivation layer is not electrically conductive and has a third thermal transfer rate, the passivation layer having a port disposed therein, the port extending completely through the passivation layer to expose an underlying layer through the passivation layer, and
• a thermal pathway disposed at least partially within the port, the thermal pathway making thermal contact to both the underlying layer and the heat sink, the thermal pathway having a fourth thermal transfer rate, where the fourth thermal transfer rate is greater than either of the first thermal transfer rate and the third thermal transfer rate.