InGaAs/GaAsP strain-compensated multiple quantum wells (SCMQWs) and strained InGaAs/GaAs multiple quantum wells (MQWs) were grown on GaAs substrates by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). The results of double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXRD) revealed that strain relief had been partly accommodated by the misfit dislocation formation in the strained MQW material. It led to that the full width half maximums (FWHMs) of superlattice satellite peaks are broader than those of SCMQWstructures, and there was no detectable room temperature photoluminecence (RT-PL) for the strained MQW structures. With the increasing of the P/As ratio, the separation angle between the substrate peak and the zeroth order peak of SCMQW decreased. The FWHMs of both the zeroth order satellite and RT-PL of SCMQW structures also decreased, whereas the intensity of RT-PL increased. This indicated that the quality of epitaxial layers was improved with the increasing of the strain compensation.