Ba(ZrxTi1-x)O-3 (BZT) films with Zr concentration ranging from 0 to 40% were grown on MgO single crystal substrates by pulsed laser deposition, and their optical properties in the visible range were systematically characterized. A linear increase in the out-of-plane lattice constant of BZT unit cell with increasing Zr content was detected by X-ray diffraction. The surface morphology was observed by atomic force microscopy and the grain size was shown to increase with Zr concentration. Prism coupling and UV-visible transmission spectroscopy techniques were used to analyze the optical properties of the films. Refractive index between 2.15 and 23 was observed at 633 and 1547 nm respectively, which decreased with rising Zr content. The BZT films also possessed large optical band gap energy up to 3.92 eV, which increased with rising Zr content. Quadratic electro-optic effect was observed with electro-optic coefficients between 0.11 and 0.81 x 10(-18) m(2)/V-2, which decreased with Zr concentration. Optical loss was estimated from scattering and absorption, and the absorption coefficient dropped with increasing Zr content at near band gap. The obtained results provide information for the design of BZT thin film-based optical devices. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.