Abstract Aluminum nitride (AlN) is an emerging material for integrated quantum photonics with its excellent linear and nonlinear optical properties. In particular, its second-order nonlinear susceptibility χ ⁽²⁾ allows single-photon generation. We have grown AlN thin films on silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) via reactive DC magnetron sputtering. The thin films have been characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD), optical reflectometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning electron microscopy. The crystalline properties of the thin films have been improved by optimizing the nitrogen to argon ratio and the magnetron DC power of the deposition process. XRD measurements confirm the fabrication of high-quality c-axis oriented AlN films with a full width at half maximum of the rocking curves of 3.9° for 300 nm-thick films. AFM measurements reveal a root mean square surface roughness below 1 nm. The AlN deposition on SiN allows us to fabricate hybrid photonic circuits with a new approach that avoids the challenging patterning of AlN.