The TPS7A84 is designed to be stable using low equivalent series resistance (ESR) ceramic capacitors at the input, output, and noise-reduction pin (NR, pin 13). Multilayer ceramic capacitors have become the industry standard for these types of applications and are recommended, but must be used with good judgment. Ceramic capacitors that employ X7R-, X5R-, and COG-rated dielectric materials provide relatively good capacitive stability across temperature, whereas the use of Y5V-rated capacitors is discouraged because of large variations in capacitance.

Regardless of the ceramic capacitor type selected, ceramic capacitance varies with operating voltage and temperature. As a rule of thumb, derate ceramic capacitors by at least 50%. The input and output capacitors recommended herein account for a capacitance derating of approximately 50%, but at high V_IN and V_OUT conditions (that is, V_IN = 5.5 V to V_OUT = 5.0 V) the derating can be greater than 50% and must be taken into consideration.