Highly oriented (001) AlN (wurtzite type) thin films have been successfully deposited on silicon, platinized silicon and glass substrates by reactive radio-frequency magnetron sputtering at low temperature (150 degrees C). X-ray diffraction, spectroscopic ellipsometry and scanning electron microscopy techniques have been employed to asses the structural characteristics of the AlN films. We have investigated both the influence of AlN film's thickness and of the substrate nature on crystallinity. The thicker films present a better c axis alignment, a minimum orientation dispersion of 3.5. being reached for 1 mu m AlN on silicon. The micro-and macrostrain of the AlN lattice relaxes as the film thickness increases. The film deposited onto platinum has the maximum value of tensile strain along c axis. The film on glass exhibited the poorest texturing and the highest defect concentration. From an optical point of view the film deposited on Pt is the denser one and that deposited on glass is the most rarefied. One can conclude that when using a low deposition temperature and a base pressure of similar to 10(-4) Pa the increase of film thickness leads to improved AlN structure on Si or Pt supports.