The lattice location of deuterium has been investigated by channeling in fcc, hcp, and bcc metals. Implanted deuterium is studied in the range 15 K up to the release temperature and its site is compared to that of dissolved deuterium (&agr; phase). After implantation, the octahedral and tetrahedral sites are distorted and deuterium can be displaced inside these cells. This distortion explains why implanted deuterium occupies a displaced site within the tetrahedral cell in bcc metals and not the pure tetrahedral site as for dissolved deuterium. The vacancy‐deuterium interaction cannot account for all the experimental results. The trapping of implanted deuterium is described in terms of the stress induced by extended implantation defects.