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[Display omitted] • The La-doped Er 2 O 3 anti-reflection films was prepared by the power of magnetron sputtering. • The compound of La 2 O 3 formed along the grain boundary of the columnar crystal structure of the polycrystalline film. • The highest hardness and yield strength of the La-doped Er 2 O 3 film was two times higher than that of pure Er 2 O 3 film. • The transmittance of the La-doped Er 2 O 3 anti-reflection films only decreased 1% after erosion. The composition and microstructure consisting of anti-reflection films was obtained by the power of magnetron sputtering. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) provided evidence to support that the doping La element exists as oxide in the grain boundaries of the matrix Er 2 O 3 films. The undoped and La-doped Er 2 O 3 films show a columnar crystal structure of the main cubic (2 2 2) plane. Twinning and a large number of dislocations show up in the undoped Er 2 O 3 films due to the competitive growth of the columnar crystal. In addition, the La-doped Er 2 O 3 films show a lower roughness (RMS) value in comparison with undoped Er 2 O 3 films. The grain size of columnar crystals decreases significantly with increasing La concentration in the La-doped Er 2 O 3 films. The fine grains resulted in the La-doped Er 2 O 3 films developing high mechanical and impact resistance properties, with an increase in hardness from 12.6 ± 2.1 GPa to 26.1 ± 3.4 GPa and the eroding area rate decreasing from 38.9 % to 1.9 %. Moreover, the La-doped Er 2 O 3 anti-reflection films on the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond substrate maintained 74 % transmittance in the long-wavelength infrared range of 8–12 μm after sand eroding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]