As a fabrication method for high quality SiGe relaxed thin layers we developed the ion implantation technique, where SiGe layers were grown on pre-ion-implanted Si substrates, followed by post-anneal for promoting strain relaxation. In this study, Ar+, Ge+ or Si+ ion was employed for implantation and properties of SiGe layers were precisely compared. It was found that the strain relaxation was well enhanced and very uniform in-plane strain-field distribution was obtained by the implantation irrespective of ion elements, but optimized conditions were quite different, implying that the defects properties were different among ions. In the case of Si+ and Ge+ implantation, the surface smoothness was highly improved presumably as a result of higher compatibility of Si+ and Ge to the Si substrate than Ar+. Rms roughness as low as 0.2 nm was achieved by Si+ implantation. These results indicate that this ion implantation technique especially with Si+ and Ge+ ions is very promising for high performance strained Si/Ge device applications. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.