Abstract: Cubic boron nitride is deposited on a substrate by an activated reactive evaporation method involving heating a substrate in a vacuum, evaporating metal vapors into a zone between the substrate and the metals source, said source consisting of one or more materials selected from the group consisting of the elements chromium, nickel, cobalt, aluminum, and manganese; introducing a boron and nitrogen containing gas into the zone, such as borazene (B.sub.3 N.sub.3 H.sub.6), a mixture of diborane and nitrogen, or a mixture of boron trichloride and ammonia, for example, and generating an electrical field in the zone in order to ionize the metal vapors and gas atoms in the zone with an electrically negative bias impressed on the substrate, the value of the bias depending upon the particular activated reactive evaporation process utilized, whereby cubic boron is produced containing from 0.05 percent to 5.0 percent of one or more of the aforesaid elements.