Abstract: The precision of wave-plate is often influenced by temperature.In order to get the relationship between the retardation of quartz wave-plate and temperature so as to reduce the error generated by temperature,the factors affecting the retardation of the wave-plate were theoretically analyzed.At the same time,the error was analyzed under different conditions.The result shows that the retardation of the wave-plate reduces with the increase of temperature.The result is useful for the wave-plate properly used at different temperature.