(Vishay Precision Group: Malvern, PA) -- Vishay Precision Group (VPG), a designer, manufacturer, and marketer of resistive foil technology products, announces the release of a current sensing resistor—the CSM3637P—with an improved power rating and low thermal electromotive force (EMF). The CSM3637P reduces errors due to temperature  changes, thus reduces a major source of uncertainty in current measurement.

The CSM3637P’s improved power rating of 5 W, which represents a key advance for this device type, is enabled by the installed heat sink on top of the resistive element, allowing better heat dissipation. The four-terminal device is also designed with its current leads separated from the voltage sensing leads, significantly reducing termination resistance.

A further benefit of the CSM3637P is its low thermal EMF of less than 3 microvolts/°C, enabled by a design in which the welded terminals make intimate contact with the chip—thus minimizing temperature differentials. This construction reduces the “battery effect” or parasitic voltage exhibited by most current-sensing resistors, while protecting pure current-to-voltage conversion from such interference in DC applications.

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