Boron nitride films were deposited in a single-wafer plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system using two different reactant gas chemistries : (i) dilute diborane (1% B2H6 in nitrogen), nitrogen and ammonia; (ii) borazine (B3N3H6), and nitrogen as precursor materials. Variations of deposition rates, thickness uniformities, refractive indexes, wet and plasma dry etch rates, film stress, and electrical properties were studied as a function of the corresponding deposition parameters. Several analytical methods such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, nuclear reaction analysis, elastic recoil detection analysis, scanning and transmission electron microscopy were used to study the deposited films. Electrical properties were measured using metal-insulator-metal and metal-insulator-semiconductor structures. The stable boron nitride films do not react with water vapor showing dielectric constant values between 4.0 and 4.7. These good insulators also show promising characteristics for potential applications in high-performance ultralarge scale integration fabrication.