2.048 V shunt reference — the precision anchor
The Texas Instruments LM4040A20IDBZTG4 is a precision shunt voltage reference that delivers a fixed 2.048 V output with an initial tolerance of ±0.1% and a temperature coefficient of 100 ppm/°C.
The 35 µVrms noise specification (10 Hz to 10 kHz) is low enough that this reference can feed a 16-bit SAR ADC without an external RC filter in many designs — the noise contribution stays below 1/2 LSB at 2.048 V full scale. The minimum cathode current is 80 µA, which sets the lower bound for the bias resistor: with a 5 V supply and 2.048 V reference, the series resistor must pass at least 80 µA plus the load current. The maximum output current is 15 mA, so the resistor also needs to keep the total current under that ceiling at the highest supply voltage.
For a precision reference that often lands in long-life industrial or instrumentation BOMs, that means no forced redesign cycle in the near term.
