The basic principle and methods of rate control in e-beam evaporated optical coatings are introduced. Rate control experiments are performed based on materials of SiO2 and HfO2, whose evaporation characteristics are hard to control. Using the proportion integral differential(PID) closed loop control, the original control parameters were set by Ziegler-Nichols experimental formula. Then the original parameters were adjused and the integral and derivative roles were delt with in subarea based on the experiment. The rate control experiment results show that good performance can be achieved by this tuning way combining with improved process flow. The problem existing in rate control are analyzed and the improving methods are proposed. Combining the rate control with e-gun sweep can futher improve the rate control performance.