Cubic nitride boron (c-BN) films have been prepared on polished single crystal Si(111) surface at room temperature (25 degreesC) by radio frequency plasma enhanced pulsed laser deposition (RF-PEPLD), assisted with substrate negative bias. Components, structure and surface morphology of the deposited films were identified by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). The growth mechanism of c-BN phase upon RF-PEPLD is discussed in detail, and the experimental evidence indicates that two deposition parameters, i.e., RF plasma power and substrate negative bias, played the key roles in the growth of the resulted c-BN films at room temperature. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.