The transformation of silicon to the amorphous state by implanted ions was studied both experimentally and theoretically. Experimentally, the amount of transformed silicon and the critical ion dose necessary to amorphize the entire implanted layer were determined by ESR. How the critical dose varies with ion mass (Li, N, Ne, Ar, and Kr), ion energy (20–180 keV), and implant temperature (77–475 K) was determined. Theoretically, several phenomenological models were used to analyze these data. The overlap‐damage model was used to determine the critical dose from the data, the size of the amorphous region around the ion track, and the degree of overlap damage required for amorphization. For all implants, the first ion created only predamage, while the second or third ion into the same region caused the amorphous transformation. The critical‐energy‐density model was in good agreement with the measured critical doses. This model assumed that a region would become amorphous if the energy density deposited into atomic processes by the ions exceeded the critical energy density of 6×1023eV/cm3. For high‐temperature implantations, out‐diffusion models can explain the temperature dependence of the critical dose. Although the analysis is not completely definitive, the critical‐energy‐density model may also be valid at high temperature if diffusion of the damage energy is taken into account. This out‐diffusion of energy from around the ion track occurs via a thermally activated process. Probably, the energy moves with the out‐diffusion of the vacancies from the ion track.