In this study, highly c-axis-oriented fine polycrystalline aluminum nitride (AlN) films are deposited on molybdenum electrodes using the reactive RF magnetron sputtering method. Molybdenum is adopted as the electrode material rather than the conventional choice of Pt/Ti, Au/Cr or Al because it has low resistivity, large acoustic velocity, and provides a good adhesion between the thin AlN film and the low-stress Si3N4 membrane. The influences of the RF power and nitrogen flow rate ratio on the crystalline orientation and surface morphologies of the deposited AlN films are thoroughly investigated. It was found that the AlN films prepared using the RF power of 400 W and an elevated N-2 flow rate ratio of 75% exhibit a greater tendency towards the preferred c-axis-orientation and exhibit smoother morphologies. Furthermore, thicker AlN films and the use of a higher RF power (400 W) in the deposition process tend to promote a narrower full width at half maximum. The experimental results demonstrate that the fabricated FBAR devices, its piezoelectric-active area (24774 mum(2)) was polygonal shape with 5 sides of 120 mum, the thickness of low-stress Si3O4, AlN film, Mo (bottom) and Al (top) electrodes was consisted of 0.2 mum, 2.25 mum, 0.1 mum and 0.18 mum, respectively. The effective electromechanical coupling coefficient (k(eff)(2)) and the quality factor (Q(fx)) were about 1.5% and 312, respectively. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.