"Although the high hardness and chemical stability of cubic boron nitride (cBN) complicate its machining, the mass decrease of cBN in a steam environment at high temperature has been reported. In this study, we investigated hydrothermal-reaction-assisted laser drilling of cBN in various environments. A single-crystalline cBN grain, binder-containing sintered cBN, and binderless sintered cBN were irradiated with an Ar ion laser in water and steam, and in gas atmospheres. The cBN reacted with water, and NH4+ or NH4+-N and boric acid were produced. Hydrothermal-reaction-assisted machining was not effective for binder-containing sintered cBN, but was effective for single-crystalline cBN and binderless sintered cBN."