Extreme ultraviolet （EUV） and vacuum ultraviolet （VUV） high-performance， thin-film optical elements considerably improve the capability of conducting high-precision observations and contribute to the development of materials as well as advancements in astronomy， physics， and other disciplines. According to the different application requirements and physical and chemical properties of materials， the Institute of Precision Optical Engineering （IPOE） at Tongji University successfully developed high-performance thin film mirrors， which could meet the application requirements of entire EUV and VUV wavelength ranges （10-200 nm）. This study presents the research progress obtained at the IPOE on the development of EUV and VUV thin-film optical elements. In this paper， the features of thin-film mirrors， monochromators， and polarizers for EUV vacuum band operation are presented. By investigating and characterizing the film’s internal microstructure and its physical and chemical mechanism， a system of film representation， optimization， preparation is established. Additionally， the thickness uniformity， reflectance， response bandwidth， stability， and polarization are improved. The developed mirrors have already been applied to domestic， large-scale scientific instruments （from ground to space）.