High resolution x‐ray diffraction has been used to investigate the structural properties of InxGa1−xAs epitaxial layers grown under tension on InP(100) substrates. The nominal indium composition (x=0.42) corresponds to a small lattice mismatch and a two dimensional growth mode. We have also included for comparison two samples grown under compression covering the mostly strained and the mostly relaxed regimes. Our results show that the residual strain and the asymmetry in strain relaxation along ⟨011⟩ directions are always larger for layers under tension. This can be explained by the difference in dislocation glide velocity induced by a different indium content, by the dissociation of perfect dislocations and partially by the difference in thermal expansion coefficients between substrate and epilayer. The larger asymmetry in strain relaxation for tensile strain layers is interpreted by the existence of microcracks aligned in the [011] direction. ©1996 American Institute of Physics.