Abstract: ZrO₂ film has excellent characteristics such as high hardness and high wear resistance, and has broad application prospects in many fields．The preparation of high-quality ZrO₂ thin films has always been important．In this work the magnetic filter cathode vacuum arc (FCVA) technology was used to prepare high-quality ZrO₂ thin films on a single crystal silicon (100) substrate with metal Zr as the cathode．X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and nanomechanical probes were applied to study the structure, morphology, composition and properties of the prepared film．The influence of O₂ flow rate on crystal structure, morphology, composition and mechanical properties of the ZrO₂ film was studied．ZrO₂ film with good crystal quality, smooth surface and high hardness was obtained．