In the work we investigate synthesis of aluminum nitride films using reactive ion plasma deposition in oxygen/nitrogen gas mixture for application as optical elements for power semiconductor lasers. The experimental refractive index of synthesized AlNO films is dependent on oxygen composition and is decreasing in diapason from 1.76 to 2.035 at elevation of the oxygen fraction.It is shown that the AlN films synthesized by pure nitrogen plasma are polycrystalline and textured. The oxygen presence in discharging gas results to growth of amorphous phase of the AlNO film.