AIN films with thickness from 100 to 1000 nm were grown on SiC substrate by MBE. AIN crystalline films were doped by implantation with 160 keV Tb ions to fluences of 5 X 10(14), 1.5 x 10(15), 3 x 10(15) and 6 x 10(15) ions/cm(2), respectively. The damage profiles in AIN films induced by Tb implantation were investigated using RBS/channeling technique. A procedure developed by Feldman and Rodgers was used to extract damage profile by considering the dechanneling mechanism of multiple. The comparison of the extracted profile with TRIM prediction shows a significant difference in the shape and in the position of damage profile. The damage profile in AIN film is similar as Tb distribution. The RBS/channeling of Tb-implanted AIN film before and after 950 degreesC annealing treatments show a good consistency, which indicate that high temperature annealing cannot result in a significant change in both crystal damage and in Tb distribution. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V All rights reserved.