The onset of strain relaxation in In 0.2 Ga 0.8 As/GaAs quantum-well structures is investigated. X-ray diffraction shows that when the InGaAs thickness increases beyond its critical thickness, another peak on the right shoulder of the GaAs peak appears, indicating that the top GaAs layer is being compressed in the growth direction by the relaxation of the InGaAs layer. Energy shifts of 44 and 49 meV are observed, respectively, from the strains of the InGaAs and GaAs top layers when increasing the InGaAs thickness from 300 and 1000 Å. These energy shifts are in agreement with theory calculated based on the relaxation process observed in x-ray diffraction, providing evidence that the relaxation occurs from near the bottom InGaAs/GaAs interface while the top interface still remains strained. This result is further corroborated by the images of cross-sectional transmission electron micrographs which show that most of the misfit dislocations are confined near the bottom interface.