Polarized infrared attenuated total reflection (ATR) with Otto configuration was employed to access the surface phonon polariton (SPP) characteristics of wurtzite aluminium nitride (AlN) thin film grown on sapphire (Al2O3) substrate. The surface and guided wave polariton dispersion curves for the studied structure were derived by taking into account thin film and substrate anisotropy. From the p-polarized ATR spectrum, one prominent peak corresponds to the SPP mode of AlN thin film was clearly observed at 824 cm(-1). In addition, four guided wave modes were also detected at 467, 593.5, 633.5 and 668 cm(-1). For the s-polarized AIR spectrum, five pronounced dips associated to the guided wave modes were detected. The obtained results were in good agreement with the AIR spectra calculated based on the standard transfer matrix formulation. The origin of the observed AIR dips were verified from the dispersion curves simulated based on air/AlN epilayer/AlN buffer layer/Al2O3 model. 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.