Method for adapting surface mount solder pad for heat sink function

A method for making a printed wiring board having solder pads that are adapted for soldering to leads of surface mount components, comprising the steps of:

• providing a substrate having a conductive layer disposed thereon;
• masking the conductive layer in such a way so as to provide etch resistance to solder pad shaped regions interconnected by conductive trace shaped regions of the conductive layer, wherein the masking step includes masking at least one of the solder pad shaped regions so as to provide etch resistance to feature mask regions within the said at least one of the solder pad regions;
• selecting a size and arrangement of the feature mask regions, wherein the selecting step includes selecting size and arrangement of the feature mask so that the resulting etched features provide at least one of said solder pads with an enhanced surface area that is sufficiently large so as to sink sufficient heat generated by one of the surface mount components, so as to provide for its proper operation;
• and
• etching the masked conductive layer so as to produce the printed wiring board including the solder pads electrically interconnected by conductive traces, each disposed on the surface of the substrate, wherein the etching step includes etching features adjacent to the feature mask regions and extending into a major surface of at least one of the solder pads.