The results of photoluminescence analysis of ion‐implanted and flash‐annealed CdTe are reported here. Bound exciton lines in the spectrum of the CdTe were used to study the annealing of implantation‐induced damage in the crystal. The intensity and width of these lines are a very good indicator of variations in lattice strain. Optimum flash annealing conditions were found to depend on both the energy and the dose of the implant. The photoluminescence indicates that flash annealing can provide complete annealing of the crystal damage following implantation. Implanting Cu or B ions into the lattice did not, however, lead to significant variations in the spectrum of the samples as compared to annealed, unimplanted samples. A comparison of flash and furnace annealing was made.