In this study, HfO2 films were deposited by the reactive electron beam evaporation technique at different oxygen partial pressures. The corresponding properties of the film such as its structure, optical property, chemical composition, absorptive property, laser damage resistance, and damage morphology are characterized and analyzed using an X-ray diffractometer, a scanning electron microscope, an ellipsometer, an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, a 1064-nm weak absorptivity tester, and a 1064-nm 1-on-1 damage test system. At a deposition temperature of 200 ℃, the deposited HfO2 films show a monoclinic polycrystalline structure with a grain size of approximately 10 nm. As the oxygen partial pressure increases, the oxidation degree of the films increases, thereby reducing their 1064-nm weak absorptive coefficients, which are dominated by non-stoichiometric defects. Moreover, the structure of the films becomes looser and the refractive index decreases. This study suggests that increasing the oxygen partial pressure, during the HfO2 film deposition process using reactive electron beam evaporation, can promote the suppression of nano-absorption defects in the film and subsurface cracks in the substrate, and can increase the laser damage threshold, thereby providing an important reference for preparing high performance HfO2-based optical components.