Laser‐annealed and further thermally annealed arsenic implanted silicon specimens have been investigated in a range of doses from 1×1016 to 5×1016 As/cm2, with different experimental techniques: electrical measurements, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), double‐crystal x‐ray diffractometry (DCD), and extended x‐ray absorption fine structure analysis (EXAFS). On the as laser‐annealed samples, in the whole range of doses examined, a lattice contraction of the doped layer has been evidenced by DCD, whereas, on the same specimens, EXAFS measurements have shown the presence of a local expansion around substitutional As atoms. The relationship between strain and carrier concentration has been found to be approximately linear and can be described by the presence of a size and an electronic effect, as recently proposed in the literature. The former effect represents the atomic size …