The LP5912-EP is designed to work with ceramic capacitors on the input and output to take advantage of the benefits they offer. For capacitance values in the range of 1 µF to 10 µF, ceramic capacitors are the smallest, least expensive, and have the lowest ESR values, thus making them best for eliminating high-frequency noise. The ESR of a typical 1-µF ceramic capacitor is in the range of 20 mΩ to 40 mΩ, which easily meets the ESR stability requirement for the LP5912-EP.

The preferred choice for temperature coefficient in a ceramic capacitor is X7R. This type of capacitor is the most stable and holds the capacitance within ±15% over the temperature range. Tantalum capacitors are less desirable than ceramic for use as output capacitors because they are more expensive when comparing equivalent capacitance and voltage ratings in the 1-µF to 10-µF range.

Another important consideration is that tantalum capacitors have higher ESR values than equivalent size ceramics. Although a tantalum capacitor can possibly be found with an ESR value within the stable range, low ESR tantalum capacitors are offered with larger capacitance (which means bigger and more costly) than a ceramic capacitor with the same ESR value. Also, the ESR of a typical tantalum increases at approximately 2:1 as the temperature goes from 25°C down to –40°C, so some guard band must be allowed.