In a CCR circuit the maximum power dissipated will depend on the voltage being applied across it. It is very important to select a thermally robust package and ensure that there is sufficient copper on the PCB to dissipate the heat generated. These graphs show that as the ambient temperature increases the PCB will require a larger thermal pad to dissipate the same amount of power. They show that the SOT-223 package is clearly a more thermally efficient package compared to the SOD-123. Application Note # AND8391/D discusses these thermal considerations in detail.

