A laser physico-chemical vapour deposition (LPCVD) technique was developed based on the interaction of an ultraviolet laser beam with a boron nitride target and borazine gas to synthesize cubic boron nitride (CBN) thin films on silicon substrates. The process involved a hybrid of pulsed laser ablation (PLA) of a solid HBN target and chemical vapour deposition (CVD) using borazine as a feed stock. The films were characterized with scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. Results indicate that the thin films consisted of almost single-crystalline CBN structures and that the film quality in terms of adherence, particulate density and smoothness was excellent. The purity and crystal structure of target material, laser beam wavelength and energy fluence were the key variables that controlled the film characteristics. In contrast to LPCVD, the conventional PLA method did not generate CBN films.