In order to improve the absorption efficiency of sapphire for ordinary infrared lasers, a metal oxide coating was used to assist 1064nm infrared fiber laser to etch sapphire. Through the single factor research method, the groove threshold of different metal oxide coatings and the influence of laser energy and metal oxide coating on the etching rate were studied. The theoretical analysis and experimental verification of the different reasons and mechanisms of the six metal oxide coatings assisted laser etching were carried out. The results show that the minimum groove threshold of TiO2 coating is about 8.5J/cm2, and the highest etching rate of TiO2 coating is about 107.3×104μm3/s when the laser energy is 77.7J/cm2; the etching rate first increases with the increase of laser energy and then tends to be gentle and decreases. The groove threshold and the etching rate are mainly related to the laser absorption ability, thermal conductivity and melting boiling point of the coating, and the laser absorption ability and melting boiling point of the coating are more affected. This research result provides a certain technical basis for the industrial application of laser processing sapphire.