Boron nitride thin films were grown on alpha-Al2O3 (0 0 1) substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering. Infrared attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectra of the films gave an intense signal associated with in-plane B-N stretching TO mode of short range ordered structure of BN hexagonal sheets. X-ray diffraction for the film prepared at a low working pressure (ca. 1 x 10(-3) Tort) gave a diffraction peak at slightly lower angle than that corresponding to crystal plane h-BN (0 0 2). It is notable that crystal thickness calculated from X-ray peak linewidth (45 nm) was close to film thickness (53 nm), revealing well developed sheet stacking along the direction perpendicular to the substrate surface. When the substrates of MgO (0 0 1) and Si (0 0 1) were used, the short-range ordered structure of h-BN sheet was formed but the films gave no X-ray diffraction. The film showed optical band gap of 5.9 eV, being close to that for bulk crystalline h-BN. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.