Mitsubishi Electric announced it will begin shipping samples of its 50Gbps distributed-feedback (DFB) laser diode for optical-fiber communication in 5G mobile base stations.

The new diode is compliant with all relevant optical-transceiver standards and achieves the industry’s widest operating temperature range for large-capacity data transmission in 5G mobile networks.

It will be on display at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC) 2022 in San Diego, USA, from March 8 to 10.

Mitsubishi Electric’s DFB laser diode’s frequency-response characteristics are compatible with 4-level pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM4) for multilevel signal modulation, supporting transmission rates up to 50Gbps. Its operating temperature range of -40°C to 90°C eliminates the need for any temperature-control unit, helping to reduce power consumption by mobile base stations.

The new diode’s package is compliant with the TO-56 CAN industry standard and is compatible with the SFP56 compact-transceiver standard adopted for Mitsubishi Electric’s 25Gbps DFB laser diode (model ML764AA58T; production discontinued).