In the “PowerPAD…” section, add a sentence to paragraph 1, reword paragraph 2 and add figure and paragraphs between existing paragraphs 2 &3 to read:
… Soldering the back side of the … to the application board is not required thermally as the device power dissipation is well within the package capability when not soldered. If traces or vias are located under the back side pad, they should be protected by suitable solder mask or other assembly technique to prevent inadvertent shorting to the exposed back side pad.
Soldering the back side pad of the device to a thermal land connected to the PCB ground plane is recommended for electrical and EMI considerations. The thermal land may be soldered to the exposed PowerPAD using standard reflow soldering techniques.
The recommended pad size for the grounded thermal land is 5.6mm sq. minimum, centered in the device land pattern. When vias are required to ground the land, multiple vias are recommended for a low impedance connection to the ground plane. Vias in the exposed pad should be small enough or filled to prevent wicking the solder away from the interface between the package body and the thermal land on the surface of the board during solder reflow.