Crystalline β-SiC surface layers with strong (111) preferred orientation were synthesized by direct ion implantation into Si(111) substrates at a low temperature of 400 o C using a metal vapor vacuum arc ion source. Both X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy reveal an augment in the amount of β-SiC with increasing implantation doses at 400 o C. Scanning electron microscopy shows the formation of an almost continuous SiC surface layer after implantation at 400 o C with a dose of 7x10 1 7 /cm 2 . The full width at half maximum of the X-ray rocking curve of β-SiC(111) was measured to be 1.4 o for the sample implanted at a dose of 2x10 1 7 /cm 2 at 700 o C, revealing a good alignment of β-SiC with the Si matrix.