invention a thin film or layer of de wetting agent 12 applied to the carrier substrate 14 causes the encapsulation material 16 to 34 bead up 34 thus where the encapsulation material 16 meets the de wetting agent 12 the encapsulation material 16 34 beads 34 rather than flows therefore an adequate amount or thickness of encapsulation material 16 remains disposed over exterior surfaces 18 of the semiconductor device 10 in order to protect the semiconductor device 10 in this situation an angle of repose u03b1 b of the encapsulation material 16 may even be greater than 90 degrees as shown in fig1 the de wetting agent 12 is applied to the substrate 14 in such a manner to border the area to be encapsulated as show in fig1 the encapsulation method of the present invention is illustrated in fig2 4 components common to both fig1 and fig2 4 retain the same numeric designation a stencil 20 is placed on a conductor carrying substrate 14 such as a pcb such that a continuous aperture 22 in the stencil 20 exposes an area of the substrate 14 around the semiconductor device to be encapsulated as shown in fig2 the de wetting agent 12 such as silicone latex high molecular weight wax and the like is then applied through the aperture 22 in the stencil 20 and onto the surface of the substrate 14 it is of course understood that the de wetting agent 12 may be applied without a stencil by any means such as precision spraying screen printing pouring extruding stamping rolling and the like when the stencil 20 is removed a thin film of de wetting agent 12 remains on the surface of the substrate 14 and borders the area to be encapsulated as shown in fig3 thickness.