Depth‐resolved cathodoluminescence was employed in conjunction with layer removal by chemical etching in an investigation of the anomalous postrange damage introduction which accompanies shallow ion implantations in ZnTe. 200‐keV Xe+implantations were performed at substrate temperatures of 300 or 80 K; the latter implant was postannealed at 300 K. The calculated projected range of these implants was 0.05 &mgr;m. However, 10‐ to 1000‐fold quenching of the incumbent extrinsic and intrinsic ZnTe luminescence was found at depths of 1–2 &mgr;m following both implants. In comparison to the 300 K implant, the 80 K implant and subsequent 300 K anneal introduces postrange defects at a higher concentration and the highly damaged region extends to a greater depth. Injection level dependence measurements show that the predominant effect of the postrange defects is to introduce independent nonradiative recombination centers rather than to react with the incumbent luminescence centers. However, we presently have no clue to the identity of the defect species introduced. In conclusion, we discuss the implications of the anomalous defect introduction for the device technology of ZnTe.