Infrared reflection measurements at near normal incidence between 400-7800 cm(-1) have been performed on ion implanted bulk and epitaxial 4H-SiC. Three samples were triple implanted with N-14 at 30, 80, and 140 keV to achieve a flat dopant profile. A fourth sample was implanted at 20, 40 and 60 keV at a temperature of similar to 830 K in-order to reduce lattice damage. We make use of the Reststrahlen band, situated between the Transverse Optical (TO) omega(TO) and the Longitudinal Optical (LO) omega(LO) phonon modes to investigate both the damage created by ion-implantation and the lattice recovery induced by subsequent XeCl excimer laser (308 nm) annealing. We show that an optimum incident laser fluence between 0.9 and 1.0 J/cm(2) exists for lattice recovery.