As the Ⅲ-Ⅴ binary compound with the face-centered cubic structure of sphalerite, cubic boron nitride (c-BN) exhibits the largest band gap as one of the typical third-generation semiconductors, as well as other excellent properties including high thermal conductivity, high hardness, high-temperature oxidation resistance, chemical stability, wide range of light transmission wavelength, and can be both doped into p-type or n-type. It can be not only widely used as a superhard materials in the processing fields of various industries, but also has potential applications value as extreme electronics materials in high-power semiconductor and optoelectronic devices, making it suitable for extreme environments such as high temperature, high power, high pressure, high frequency and strong radiation. This article reviews the development of c-BN crystal preparation and epitaxial growth of c-BN thin films in recent years, focusing on the progress of growth technology and the improvement of crystal quality, as well as their mechanical, optical and electrical properties. Finally, the paper summarizes the content of the paper and prospects the challenges of c-BN application.