A cooling device including a thermally conductive body with a first mating surface, a first solder wettable material disposed in a pattern at a portion of the first mating surface, and a reflowable solder material disposed at the first mating surface. A portion of the solder material is configured to be capable of contacting an adjacently disposed second mating surface, and when melted, to form a single flow front through a bond line gap between the first mating surface of the cooling device and the second mating surface of, for example, a thermal component.A mating surface of the cooling device is positioned adjacent to a mating surface of a thermal component and the solder material is heated at least to its melting point. The solder material is maintained in a molten state until it has flowed into and substantially filled a bond line gap between the mating surface of the cooling device and the mating surface of the thermal component, and then cooled below its melting point, physically and/or thermally coupling the cooling device and the thermal component.