An aluminum nitride (AlN) thin film has been grown on annealed magnesium oxide (MgO) (111)-plane substrate using low temperature helicon sputtering system. Both AlN films on as-received and annealed MgO(111) substrate are single crystalline with AlN[0001] broken vertical bar broken vertical bar MgO[111]. X-ray rocking curve shows that AlN film on annealed MgO exhibits superior crystalline quality, which means more suitable for AlN crystal growth. Two different growths were found for the deposition of AlN on annealed MgO. It is believed that the partially recovered substrate surface caused by annealing process provides atomic smooth surface terraces with small lattice mismatch for AlN crystal to grow in 2D mode, enhance grAlN size, and thus reduce the dislocation density. This is the first time demonstrated for the growth mechanism of single crystal AlN thin film prepared on MgO(111) by sputtering system. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.