referring now to the drawings , and in particular to fig1 a semiconductor wafer 10 is mounted upon a rotating disc 12 . the semiconductor wafer 10 contains a multiplicity of integrated circuits generally represented by segmented sections of the wafer 10 . the platform 12 is rotated at a speed within the range of 2500 rpm to 5000 rpm . a polyimide material is applied to the surface of the wafer as generally represented by the arrow 14 . a preferred polyimide material is f - 410 as manufactured by the dupont corporation of wilmington , delaware . the polyimide material has a preferred diultion of 4 : 1 in m - methyl pyralodone . this concentration , with a rotation of the disc 12 at 4000 rpm , produces a film on the surface of the wafer 10 having a thickness within the range of 0 . 5 to 6 . 0 microns . the semiconductor wafer 10 is removed from the disc 12 and placed into a heating chamber at 100 ° c for 20 minutes . nitrogen gas ( n 2 ) is injected into the heating chamber during which time the wafer is heated in the chamber . subsequently , the temperature is raised within the heating chamber to 265 ° c for one hour with an accompanying injection of nitrogen gas ( n 2 ) into the chamber . it was discovered empirically that the presence of nitrogen gas ( n 2 ) during the curing of the polyimide material inhibited unfavorable results . for example , oxidation of the metal associated with the integrated circuits within the dice was inhibited . a cross section of the resulting structure following the preceding step is illustrated in fig2 a . the portion of the cross section in fig2 a that represents the semiconductor wafer is represented by the reference numeral 10 &# 39 ;. the polyimide film is represented by the reference numeral 18 . the semiconductor wafer is removed from the heating chamber and is again placed upon the rotating disc 12 . at this time , a photo - resist material is applied over the polyimide film 18 in the same manner that the polyimide material was applied in the preceding step , and as generally represented by the arrow 14 . a preferred photo - resist material is kodak 752 as manufactured by eastman kodak co . of rochester , new york . however , kodak 747 photo - resist may also be satisfactorily used . infrared light is directed upon the photo - resist material for two to four minutes to soft bake the photo - resist material . subsequently , the photo - resist material is aligned , exposed in a preferred pattern , and developed in a conventional manner . if kodak 752 photo - resist is employed a 10 second exposure is required ; whereas , if kodak 747 photo - resist is used a 6 second exposure is required . the photo - resist material is developed in a solution of xylene . a cross section of the resulting structure following the above described steps is illustrated in fig2 b . the developed photo - resist material is depicted in fig2 b by the reference numeral 20 . the semiconductor wafer 10 is again placed into a heating chamber to hardbake the photo - resist layer 20 . if the kodak 752 photo - resist is employed , heat at a temperature of 175 ° c is applied to the photo - resist layer 20 for 30 minutes ; whereas , if kodak 747 photo - resist is employed heat at a temperature of 155 ° c is applied to the photo - resist layer 20 for one hour . subsequently , the portions of the underlying polyimide layer 18 are etched away in areas exposed by photo - resist layer 20 . a preferred etchant is hydrazine , which etchant is applied at 47 ° c for 1 1 / 2 minutes . the photo - resist mask or layer 20 defines openings over contact points 22 on the integrated circuits in the wafer 10 , and the channels 24 between adjacent circuits in the wafer 10 . the semiconductor wafer 10 is cleaned in a solution of isopropyl alcohol to dilute and thereby abate the chemical action of the etchant . a silicon etchant is applied to the structure as shown in fig2 b , which etchant removes a portion of the underlying silicon substrate within the channels 24 . this etchant , which may be any conventional silicon etchant , does not attack the exposed contact points 22 . the purpose for this silicon etch is to facilitate ease of cutting the wafer 10 into a multiplicity of dice . the semiconductor wafer 10 is cleaned in a solution of isopropyl alcohol to dilute and thereby abate the chemical action of the etchant . the semiconductor wafer 10 is cut into a multiplicity of dice , which cuts are made within the channels 24 . each of the dice assembled by the process described hereinabove are individually protected by a layer of polyimide material . the contact points 22 are not covered by the polyimide layer 18 , and are employed for making an ohmic contact in testing the integrated circuit within the die . referring now to fig2 c , each of the dice are attached to a paddle structure 25 by any conventional die attach technique . the paddle may comprise a portion of a conventional semiconductor lead frame , or may consist of a single paddle . once the die has been attached to the paddle , the die may be tested by means of the contacts 22 prior to packaging . referring now to fig2 d , the individual paddle 25 containing a single die is aligned with a lead frame 26 and the contacts 22 are electrically connected to a lead frame by means of bonding wires 28 . a second film 30 of polyimide material is deposited onto the semiconductor die , the bonding wires , and adjacent portions of the lead frame . this additional coating of polyimide material helps prevent electrical shorts and adds strength to the bonding wires . the lead frame 26 and the paddle 25 containing the die , which is electrically connected to the lead frame , is encapsulated in a conventional manner . fig3 illustrates a semiconductor die 40 coated with a polyimide film 41 in accordance with the principles of the present invention . contacts 42 are provided for effecting electrical connection to the circuits ( not shown ) within the die 40 . the die 40 is affixed to a paddle 43 by conventional die - attach techniques . a lead frame 44 , which is supported by a film 45 of an insulating material , is aligned above the die 40 . the lead portions 44a and 44b of the lead frame 44 extend in cantilever fashion over an opening ( generally referred to by reference numeral 46 ) within the film 44 . the die 40 and supporting paddle 43 are brought into contact with the lead portions 44a and 44b , and the contacts 42 are bonded to the lead portions 44a and 44b in a conventional manner . accordingly , it may be seen that the layer of polyimide film 41 , which film layer is insulative , prevents short circuits which may be caused by the lead portions 44a and 44b coming in contact with edges of the die 40 .