Deep level transient spectroscopy has been used to investigate the effects of alpha irradiation and thermal annealing on deep levels in gold‐dopedn‐type silicon. Data on thermal annealing characteristics of the well‐known gold acceptor up to temperatures as high as about 600 °C are reported. This level is found to be very stable, supporting the substitutional gold model for the acceptor center. Interaction of the gold‐related defects with radiation‐induced defects has been investigated using 5.48 MeV alpha particles for irradiation, combined with isochronal thermal annealing before and after irradiation. Irradiation produces the usual radiation‐induced levels. A slight reduction in the gold‐acceptor concentration is observed due to irradiation, contrary to an earlier reported study. A noticeable suppression of the thermal stability of this level is also observed after irradiation. The presence of gold leads to a significant enhancement of the anneal‐out temperature of the well‐knownA‐center defect. A deep level atEc−0.34 eV, ascribed to the Fe–Au complex, is found to be enhanced by irradiation. No evidence is found to support the recently proposed gold‐divacancy complex model of the gold acceptor—rather, the results strongly support the isolated substitutional impurity model for this center. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.