Power economy is the guiding influence behind the development of a new series of voltage reference devices from Zetex. Characterised by a typical knee current of just 4uA, the ZXRE1004 will assist design engineers seeking low power operation from battery driven circuitry.

The trend towards reduced system operating voltages of 3 and 3.3V is also decreasing the reference voltage requirement to 'one and a quarter volt'. As a result, this micropower bandgap reference has been designed to provide a 1.22V output.

Five times smaller than common SO8 parts, the SOT23 packaged ZXRE1004 will appeal to many space and power restricted applications.

Alternatively, the availability of SO8 and TO92 versions will provide designers with a high performance pin for pin compatible alternative to competing marques.

With a typical temperature coefficient of 20ppm/degree C, the ZXRE1004 maintains its high performance operation over the 8uA to 20mA range.

Offering excellent stability, the reference is highly tolerant of capacitive loads.

Launched initially in 1, 2 and 3% tolerance variants, the structure of the voltage reference IC has been designed to enable tighter tolerance devices to be produced as required. For applications needing a precision voltage source, that include high accuracy measurement equipment and power supplies, the ZXRE1004 will be of service.

Under ambient temperature conditions, power dissipation figures are respectively 330, 625 and 500mW for SOT23, SO8 and E-Line (TO92) types.

In designs where power consumption really is extremely important these parts are going to be an important consideration. The knee cuurent of this bandgap is superbly low at 4 uA and the move to 1.22 V is timely for the developments in the market. Using the lowest power dissipation SOT-23 version clearly makes a lot of sense in the part's use in a design, although the SO-8 and TO-92 versions can be dropped into existing designs where competitive parts are already being used.