Palladium atoms have been gettered from the bulk of an amorphous Si (a‐Si) layer to an ion‐implanted surface region. The 2.2‐&mgr;m‐thicka‐Si layers, formed by MeV Si implantation, were implanted with 500 keV Pd and then annealed at 500 °C. This produces a complete redistribution of Pd within the layer and relaxation or substantial defect annihilation in thea‐Si. Subsequently, defects were introduced into the surface region (∼4000 A˚) by 200 keV Si implantation at various doses. After low‐temperature diffusion at 250 °C, Pd atoms are gettered in the Si‐implanted region. At low Si fluences, Pd decorates the Gaussian depth distribution of the ion‐induced damage, while at higher a saturation is reached in the gettering profile. The ion damage is calculated to saturate when 2% of the target Si atoms are displaced by atomic recoils. Below saturation, the displacement of two Si atoms is calculated to produce one Pd trapping site.