Experimental and modeling studies of AlN metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) are aimed at the analysis of surface morphology variations with growth conditions. It was found that flattest surfaces can be obtained at high temperature, reduced growth rate, and optimal V/III ratio. Detailed simulation of AlN growth and comparison of the results with trends reported in the literature point out that the improvement of the Surface morphology is due to the reduced parasitic gas-phase reactions and increased migration length of adsorbed species on the surface. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.