A precision voltage reference, like those in the new Apex product family, offer performance features intended to diminish the impact of adverse operating conditions. Apex precision voltage references exhibit much lower voltage supply drift, lower temperature coefficients, and reduced thermal hysteresis. The result is a more attractive solution when compared with their internal, on-chip counterparts.
The basic design premise for using a voltage reference is to produce a precise value of output voltage. A typical application is a data conversion system where system accuracy is very much dependent on the accuracy of the supply voltage established by either an internal or external DC voltage reference. The voltage reference sets the full-scale input of the data conversion system.
Any lapse in the voltage reference's ability to maintain the accuracy of the supply output over operating temperature, and the linearity, as well as the dynamic range of the system, will be adversely affected. The performance of practically all voltage references, whether internal or external, will vary simply over time by nature or as a result of environmental factors such as humidity, pressure and temperature.
