Recent progress in cubic boron nitride film synthesis

Cubic boron nitride (cBN) thin films, as artificially prepared materials, have excellent mechanical, thermal, electronic and optical properties, thus have potentially significant technological applications in cutting tools, high-temperature electronic devices, and protective coatings for optical elements. Cubic BN films have attracted worldwide attention since the early 1980s; however, a numbers of difficulties hindered their applications. In this paper, recent important achievements in cBN film preparation are reviewed, and perspectives for future study of cubic boron nitride film are presented.