Opening the book…
Simple passive diode circuits cannot rectify small signals accurately. The forward bias potential of the diode acts as a constant barrier. By placing the diode inside the feedback loop of an op amp, the forward bias potential can be compensated for to a great extent. Both half-wave and full-wave circuits can be created in this fashion. Further, the addition of load capacitance can be used to create a simple envelope detector. On the downside, the frequency response of precision rectifiers is limited by the op amp(s) used.
This page titled 13.1: Theory Overview was last modified on Mon, 22 Mar 2021 02:59:29 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by James M. Fiore via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.
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