H4films were prepared on quartz substrates by electronic beam vapor d eposition technique,and the optical and laser damage properties were investigated.Based o n transmittances of the samples,the calculated optical band gaps are 4.66～4.73eV,which are incr eased with decrease of the deposition rate.The ellipsometric results show that the refractive index is decr eased from 1.9552,1.9198,1.9018to 1.8954(1064nm) with the decrease of deposition rate from 0.92nm/s,0.17nm/s,0.08nm/s to 0.03nm/s.For all the samples prepared in this paper,the ex tinction coefficients are all below 10－5.The deposition rates almost can not affect the laser damage morphology and properties of H4films.When all the samples are broken a t the same laser energy,similar damage spot sizes are obtained.The boundary between damage and un -damage areas of the film prepared at the deposition rate of 0.92nm/s is interlocking while oth ers are not.The laser-induced damage thresholds (LIDT) of the films ar e stable with the value of 16～17J/cm²(1064nm, 10ns)while the deposition rates change from 0.03nm/s to 0.92nm/s.