ZrO2 coatings were prepared by electron beam evaporation,while coating thickness and deposition rate were monitored and demonstrated by quartz crystal oscillation. The refractive index and thickness of ZrO2 coatings were measured by NKD7000 spectrophotometer. The surface morphology and root-mean-square (RMS) roughness had been characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was found that the refractive index and RMS roughness were decreasing as the working pressure was increasing; the refractive index and RMS roughness were also increasing as a result of increasing deposition rate. Which were agreed with the results of tooling factor. Proper process conditions had to be used in order to get optical coatings with better structures under proper RMS roughness.