Characteristics of rapid thermal and pulsed laser annealing have been investigated in boron fluoride‐ (BF+2and BF+3) ‐implanted silicon using cross‐section and plan‐view electron microscopy. The amorphous layers recrystallize by the solid‐phase‐epitaxial growth process, while the dislocation loops below the amorphous layers coarsen and evolve into a network of dislocations. The dislocations in this band getter fluorine and fluorine bubbles associated with dislocations are frequently observed. The secondary‐ion mass spectrometry techniques were used to study concomitant boron and fluorine redistributions. The as‐implanted Gaussian boron profile broadens as a function of time and temperature of annealing. However, the fluorine concentration peak is observed to be associated with dislocation band, and the peak grows with increasing time and temperature of annealing. The electrical properties were investigated using van der Pauw measurements. The electrical activation of better than 90% and good Hall mobility were observed in specimens with less than 500‐A˚ dopant‐profile broadening. In pulsed laser‐annealed specimens, the boron profile broadens both toward the surface and into the deeper regions of the crystal. However, the fluorine concentration profile exhibits a decrease in peak concentration with only a limited broadening.