<p>We investigate the propagation behavior of Rayleigh waves in a composite system composed of nonlocal micropolar thermoelastic materials. The structure under study consists of an initially stressed, rotating, nonlocal transversely isotropic micropolar thermoelastic layer placed over a similar rotating half-space. Our theoretical formulation is grounded in nonlocal elasticity theory combined with micropolar thermoelasticity utilizing both the Lord–Shulman (L–S) and Green-–Lindsay (G–L) generalized thermoelastic models. We derive the constitutive and governing equations leading to a closed-form expression for the Rayleigh wave dispersion equation. To solve the resulting seventh-order secular equation we develop a robust numerical scheme involving initial root estimation, convergence enforcement and stability checks to ensure accurate computation of phase velocities. The model is validated with the pre-established results under both L–S and G–L theories. Numerical results reveal the effects of nonlocality, initial stress, rotation and layer thickness on phase velocity, attenuation and specific loss. Graphical analyses demonstrate the strong dependence of wave characteristics on these parameters providing deeper insight into Rayleigh wave behavior in advanced anisotropic thermoelastic media with implications for geophysical exploration and high-performance engineering applications.</p>