For best overall performance, follow the guidelines in this section. Place all circuit components on the same side of the printed circuit board (PCB) and as near as practical to the respective LDO pin connections. Place ground return connections for the input and output capacitors as close to the GND pin as possible, using wide, component-side, copper planes. Do not use vias and long traces to create LDO circuit connections to the input capacitor, output capacitor, or resistor divider. This practice negatively affects system performance. This grounding and layout scheme minimizes inductive parasitics, and thereby reduces load current transients, minimizes noise, and increases circuit stability. A ground reference plane is also recommended and is embedded in the PCB or located on the bottom side of the PCB opposite the components. This reference plane serves to provide accuracy of the output voltage and shield the LDO from noise. To improve the thermal performance of the device, and to maximize the current output at high ambient temperature, spread the copper under the thermal pad as far as possible and place enough thermal vias on the copper under the thermal pad.