Abstract. Ta 2 O 5 films are applied widely in semiconductor materials, storage devices, optical devices and many other areas. There are many methods to prepare Ta 2 O 5 thin films. In this paper, we have explored the effects on the properties of films at different experimental conditions in the process of RF magnetron sputtering. In the experiments, the sputtering time and the O 2 -Ar flow ratio were changed. Then the properties of the Ta 2 O 5 films prepared under different experimental conditions were compared, especially their electrochemical impedance characteristics and their optical transmittance properties.