We present the effect of miscut angle of SiC substrates on N-polar AlN growth. The N-polar AlN layers were grown on C-face 4H-SiC substrates with a miscut towards <(1) over bar 100 > by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). The optimal V/III ratios for high-quality AlN growth on 1 degrees and 4 degrees miscut substrates were found to be 20,000 and 1000, respectively. MOVPE grown N-polar AlN layer without hexagonal hillocks or step bunching was achieved using a 4H-SiC substrate with an intentional miscut of 1 degrees towards <(1) over bar 100 >. The 200-nm-thick AlN layer exhibited X-ray rocking curve full width half maximums of 203 arcsec and 389 arcsec for (002) and (102) reflections, respectively. The root mean square roughness was 0.4 nm for a 2 mu m x 2 mu m atomic force microscope scan. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.