Is it safe to use the exposed heatsink pad of a QFN to also connect the ground pins of the IC? (Like this question, but in my case the pad has many vias connecting it to ground plane.)
Additionally, is it ok to use the very same vias in order to connect components with the ground plane or the heatsink pad and its vias should be dedicated only to heat dissipation?
Edit: According to the datasheet the pad is connected to ground and should be connected to the ground plane:
"The centre pad on the base of the FT601Q is internally connected to GND, the PCB should connect to ground and not have signal tracking on the same layer as chip in this area."
In the image below it's the quarter of the QFN demonstrating my question (the blue component is a cap on the opposite side:)
Best Answer
It will say in the datasheet what the pad is electrically connected to.
You don't need dedicated electrical and thermal vias, just make the hole small (<0.3mm) so they don't wick solder away, but that is true of any via in a pad.