# How do I type boxtimes?

How do I type boxtimes in Mathematica, for example $a\boxtimes b$? This symbol is used a lot in mathematics, but I found no corresponding part in Mathematica. In TeX form, I can type \boxtimes.

Can I make one in Mathematica, and type it in a simple way, like the following?

\[EscapeKey]b*\[EscapeKey]

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possible duplicate of How can I create some shorthand notation for a custom control? –  Szabolcs Sep 5 '13 at 18:04
Perhaps that's not the best question to mark this as a duplicate of. The solution is to create InputAliases. See the answer I linked on how. –  Szabolcs Sep 5 '13 at 18:10
Thanks, Szabolcs. Your link is very helpful, which answers my second question. There is the first question left, how do I create the symbol $\boxtimes$? Maybe I need to make a RowBox? –  9527 Sep 5 '13 at 18:29
You can just paste it, or type it the same way you typed it here. Usually, to find out the name of a named character, you can use FullForm. For example, FullForm[α] will give you \[Alpha]. FullForm[⊠] gives me \:22a0, which is just it's unicode character code. So this particular character has no defined name in Mma. It is possible that there is another character which looks very similar and has a name, but I haven't been able to find it in the list. You can take a look too. –  Szabolcs Sep 5 '13 at 18:33
Thanks. When I type \:22a0 I failed to get correct form $\boxtimes$. But I found a similar question How can one type a box with "x" marked. –  9527 Sep 5 '13 at 20:08

In my case the default font does not support this character and like OP I get \[EmptySqure] for each case.
As shown in Overlay/Applications you can proceed with \[EmptySquare], and \[Times], but they do not seem to fit quite well. You can use Alt+ArrowKey to adjust positions or type it explicitly:
Overlay[{"\[EmptySquare]",
"\!$$\*AdjustmentBox[\"\[Times]\",BoxBaselineShift->-0.15]$$"}]

+1. Did not know about Alt+ArrowKey. Very useful shortcut! I should visit the page tutorial/KeyboardShortcutListing more often. –  Alexey Popkov Apr 26 '14 at 13:21